Pieter Pieterszoon AERTSEN (Amsterdam 1540 -... Lot 15

Pieter Pieterszoon AERTSEN (Amsterdam 1540 - 1603) The Crucifixion Oil on panel 95 x 70 cm Provenance: Maas Collection, Amsterdam as Jan van Scorel before 1902 ; Anonymous sale, Roos C.F. Co Amsterdam, 18-20 March 1902, no. 85 ; W. Mengelberg Collection, Amsterdam, until 1952; Mengelberg sale, Amsterdam, S.J. Mak van Waay, H.S. Nieuhuys, 25 March 1952, no. 57, as Pieter I Aertsen ; Collection Stichting Wagner - De Wit, The Hague; Deposited at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam between 1953 and 1964; Deposited at the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht between 1964 and 1973; Deposited at the Museum Spaans Gouvernement, Vrijthof Maastricht inv. nr.: 0287 (recovered in 2010); Exhibitions : Exhibition of Religious Arts in 's-Hertogenbosch (Oude Kerkelijke kunsts'Hertogenbosch) 1913, as Jan van Scorel; Noord Nederlandse Schilder en Beeldhouwkunst, 1913, no. 3, as Pieter Pieterszoon IAertsen Bibliography: P. Wesher, "Der Maler Pieter Pietersz und sein werk", Oud Holland XLVI, 1929, pp. 152-171, pl. 5 p.158 ; G.S. Hoogewerff, De Noord Nederlandse schilderkunst, deel IV, pp. 554-555, reproduced ; D.H. van Wegen, Het Vlaamse Schilderkunst Boek, Zwolle, 2005, pp. 94-95, reproduced on p. 95 Mostly famous today for his genre paintings, Aertsen began his career as a painter of religious scenes, notably for the churches of Amsterdam and Leuven (although largely destroyed as a result of the religious unrest of 1566). He became a citizen of his native Amsterdam in 1557, where he spent much of his career. He brought major innovations to Dutch painting in the second half of the 16th century. His original style intelligently blends Italian nobility with Nordic realism thanks to his experience as a painter active in three countries, Holland, Flanders and Italy. We can cite several major works from his career as a religious painter, such as the Vanity with Christ at Martha and Mary, 1552, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, a Triptych kept in the Cathedral of Laval, and Jesus at Martha and Mary (1559), kept in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels.