(Antwerp 1601–1678)
An Allegory of Water,
signed and dated lower centre: J. Brueghel 16(4)1,
oil on copper, 51 x 83.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Pedro de Sousa Holstein, Duke of Palmela (1781–1850), Calhariz Palace, Lisbon (according to an inscription on the reverse);
Private collection, Belgium;
sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 16th November 2013, lot 1242 (sold for € 122,000);
Private collection, Belgium

The Duke of Palmela was the owner of a complete series of the Four Elements (see: G. Pereira, A Colleccao de Pinturas do S. Duque de Palmela, Lisbon 1903, p. 5). The other three paintings are now lost. We know of at least two further series of the Four Elements by Jan Brueghel II, both of which are based on the compositions by Jan Brueghel I in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome. Klaus Ertz dates the earliest of these series, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Lyon, to the 1620s; the second series, dating from 1628, is in a private collection. Both of them are painted on panel instead of copper. Their figures are attributed to Hendrick van Balen. Ertz assigns the Palmela series to the 1640s. A certificate issued by Klaus Ertz, dated 9th March 2009 is available.

He compares the present painting to the following works by Jan Brueghel II:

(1) Allegory of Water, circa 1628 (private collection);
(2) Allegory of Spring, 1640s (private collection);
(3) Allegory of Smell, 1640s (sale, Charpentier, Paris, 2nd December 1955, lot 2)