(Rotterdam 1624–1674 Vienna)
The Annunciation to the Shepherds,
signed and dated at lower right: J. ossenbeeck 1644,
oil on panel, 46 x 59 cm, framed

Provenance:
Johann Karl Freiherr von Egk und Hungersbach (died in 1679);
in 1679 acquired by Prince Charles Eusebius of Liechtenstein (1611–1684);
ex Collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein, Feldsberg (Valtice)
sale Sotheby`s , London, July 7th 2011, Lot 196

Documentation:
Inventory Prince Johan Adam I of Liechtenstein (1657–1712), 1712, no. 522

Literature:
V. Fleischer, Fürst Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein als Bauherr und Kunstsammler, Vienna, 1910, p. 64, no. 12

Jan van Ossenbeeck was one of the most popular artists in Vienna at the time. In his early years the artist moved to Rome, where he joined the colony of Netherlandish painters. Later on, Ossenbeeck was appointed court painter to Archduke Leopold William, the governor of Brussels, and accompanied the latter to Vienna in 1756. He was held in high esteem at the Viennese court and among the nobility. According to the account book of Prince Charles Eusebius of Liechtenstein, in whose collection the present painting was originally preserved (first mentioned in his inventories in 1712), the painting was acquired from the artist as early as 29 July 1667. It was long installed in Feldsberg Castle, the main Moravian residence of the Liechtenstein family.