Jan BRUEGHEL the Younger and Hendrik van BALEN (Brussels... Lot 500

Jan BRUEGHEL the Younger and Hendrik van BALEN (Brussels 1601 - Antwerp 1678) and (Antwerp 1575 - 1632) The Allegory of the Five Senses Oak panel, one board, not parqueted 65 x 100,5 cm The figurative representation of the allegory of the five senses dates back to the early Middle Ages and developed in Antwerp in the early 17th century. It reflects the growing prestige enjoyed by painting in a rapidly developing commercial and artistic city. The emblematic and moralizing modality of the sensory allegory evokes the new wind blowing through Flemish painting towards the end of the Renaissance and the changing role of art in political and city life. The first representation of the subject in a series of five panels, painted in collaboration by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Rubens between 1617 and 1619, was intended for the regent couple Albert of Austria and Isabella of Spain, who at the time exercised sovereignty over the Spanish Netherlands. The paintings offer an idealized portrait of the archduke's court and its power in the political and cultural spheres (see K. Ertz, Jan Brueghel D.A., Koln, 1979, no. 398, reproduced). The Allegory of the Five Senses assembled as a single subject in a single plane is known from a single version by Jan Brueghel the Elder, now in a private German collection (see Kl. Ertz, Jan Brueghel, Die Gemalde, Cologne, 1979, n°433, reproduced fig. 334). Our painting presented here is a reworking of this subject by Jan Brueghel the Younger and Hendrik van Balen; the allegorical figures, with their rounded faces, protruding chins and voluminous forms, are reminiscent of Hendrik van Balen's work, while the decoration, flowers and landscape are treated by Jan Breughel the Younger. He collaborated from 1625 onwards with van Balen, who had previously worked with his father. Of exceptional pictorial quality, with a wood panel of rare quality, the painting is also the only version of this subject known to the artist. Report of the wooden support by ATELIERS D'ENGHIEN SARL : Mr Patrick MANDRON This work is painted on an oak support, made up of a single board with a horizontal grain, 65 cm high and 100.8 cm wide, with a regular thickness of about 1 cm. The board presents on almost all its width a flow on quarter with presence of mesh, only the lower part lets appear progressively a flow on false quarter (flow more favorable to the deformation). It is interesting to note that for a width of 65 cm we are dealing with a single oak board whose relatively wide annual rings indicate that we are in the presence of an oak located in the central part of Europe, unlike the oak from the Baltic with much tighter annual rings. On the reverse side of the panel we can see the traces of a fine sawing. The four sides of the panel are beveled on the reverse side for about 3 cm to reduce the initial thickness from about 10 mm to 5 mm. One is impressed by the excellent conservation quality of the support and its very low curvature despite the large dimensions of this panel, and the high density of the fibrous tissue that constitutes it. We thank Klaus Ertz for confirming the attribution, a certificate dated January 10, 2022 will be given to the buyer.