(Antwerp 1508 – circa 1560)
Rebecca at the Well,
oil on panel, 82 x 122 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Belgium

We are grateful to Luuk Pijl for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph. A copy of his certificate, dated 15 March 2024, accompanies this lot.

The extensive landscape in the present painting is firmly attributed to Massys. The vastness suggested by his use of colour and perspective are very much in the vein of Joachim Patinir. The beautifully detailed rendering of the trees and foliage of the bushes, as well as the attention paid to buildings in the background, are typical of his style. His use of atmospheric perspective, with subtle gradations of tone, from a more saturated palette in the foreground to a blue-infused tint in the background, to a thin veil of grey on the relatively high horizon, are further traits of Massys’ hand. He would often execute the landscapes in the figure paintings by his brother Jan. The figures in this painting are thought to be attributed to an unidentified workshop collaborator working in the Massys’ studio.

The story depicted here is from Genesis 24:11-22 and concerns the elderly Abraham, who was in search of a wife for his son Isaac. He sent out a senior steward to his homeland of Mesopotamia to find a suitable woman. In the present painting, the steward, in need of refreshment, is seen receiving a vessel of water from Rebecca and it is at this moment that he recognises her as a suitable wife for Isaac. Rebecca is an extremely important figure in the Old Testament since she gave birth to Jacob who subsequently became the ancestor of all of Israel.

Cornelis Massys was a Flemish painter and engraver and son of Quentin Massys (1465/66–1530) one of the leading portrait and religious painters of the Antwerp school. Cornelis trained in his father’s workshop and became a master painter of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1531, along with his brother Jan Massys. Influenced by such painters as Herri Met de Bles and especially Joachim Patinir (who pioneered landscape panoramas in early sixteenth century Flemish painting.) In 1544 Cornelis and his brother Jan were forced to flee Antwerp because of their religious beliefs. Their whereabouts after this is not known. Cornelis Massys became largely known for his landscape painting exploring scenes from nature in unprecedented detail.