(acive ca. 1580–1600) The Holy Family with Saint John, served by angels, pen and brown ink, grey wash, over traces of black chalk, 19,5 x 24,4 cm, fixed to old mount, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Émile Louis Dominique Calando (1840–1898), Paris, Lugt 837;
Private collection, Italy.

The so-called “Master of the Egmont Albums” is a draftsman from the southern Low Countries who was active toward the end of the 16th century and may have spent the majority of his artistic career in Italy. His name goes back to a group of drawings, which were once kept in the collection of John Percevcal, first Earl of Egmont (1683-1748) and in 1957 came to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. The identity of the anonymous artist and some of the drawings which are attributed to him continue to be subject of art historical research (cf. N. Dacos, „Le Maître des Albums Egmont: Dirck Hendricksz Centen“, in: Oud Holland 104 (1990), pp. 49-68: G. J. van der Sman, „Observations on the Master of the Egmont Albums“, in Fiammingi a Roma 1506-1608. Proceedings of the Symposium held at Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, 13th March 1995, Florence 1999, pp. 45-65). The study for a “Holy Family Resting on the Flight to Egypt” which was the model for an engraving by Crispijn de Passe and was published in Cologne around 1600 offers, however, a decisive clue: a certain „Quinten d M,” who may have been part of a community of Dutch and Flemish group of artists is mentioned there as inventor of the composition. (vgl. G. J. van der Sman, „‘Meester van de Egmont Albums, Jona die door God wordt toegesproken“, in: Delineavit et Sculpsit 18 (1997), p. 10). As with many artists of his generation, the stylistic influence of Italian Cinquecento artists is palpable also in our Master’s work, particularly when he referred to figural prototypes as for example by Raphael, Taddeo Zuccari or Daniele da Volterra.
The present drawing is typical for the Master of the Egmont Albums whose style is characterized by lively pen strokes combined with generous washes in light and dark inks as can be seen in a number of other comparable drawings by the master. In this context, the study of “Pentecost” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Inv. Nr. 2014.121) with its densely packed composition, the expressive figures and the intense contrast of light and shadow is reminiscent of the present drawing and therefore particularly interesting. A comparable drawing with the “Resurrection of Christ” is kept in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (Inv. EBA 8429).