Leonaert Bramer Lot n° 2035

Leonaert Bramer Night Scene with two Women and a Donkey Oil on slate. 10.3 x 14.2 cm. Provenance Auctioned by Bonhams, London, 4.12.2013, lot 3. - Private collection, Netherlands. Leonaert Bramer travelled to Italy via France in 1615, and it became his home for 13 years. In Italy he became acquainted with the use of slate panels, which were used there more frequently as a substrate for paintings. Thus, most of his works painted on slate, such as the present one, can probably be dated to these Italian years. Bramer often chose unusual motifs that are sometimes difficult to identify today. The subject of the present work has yet to be identified. Since the artist created numerous series of illustrations on paper, including for the Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphoses and for various Spanish novels, a literary model could be conceivable for this night scene. The painting is listed in the RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie) in The Hague, as an authentic work by this artist under the no. 283204.