Circle of Marten van Cleve (Antwerp 1527-1577/81)

The picture appears loosely based on the famous Outdoor Wedding Dance by the Brueghel family, of which at least thirty autograph versions by Pieter the Younger are recorded. The witty and intelligently observed combination of naturalism and humour has ensured an undiminished popularity of this composition from the seventeenth century until the present day and the artist of the present lot incorporated several motifs –in reverse, such as the dancing couple to the left and the couple in the left centre.