THOMAS WILLEBORTS, CALLED BOSSCHAERT (BERGEN OP ZOOM 1613-1654 ANTWERP)

We are grateful to Dr. Hans Vlieghe for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs. He compares it to a Head study of an angel (whereabouts unknown; see Axel Heinrich, Thomas Willeborts Bosschaert, Turnhout, 2003, II, p. 529, fig. 69), which has an equally sentimental expression and slightly opened mouth, both typically found in the oeuvre of this painter working in the orbit of Anthony van Dyck. Willeborts Bosschaert incorporated the angel in his Flight into Egypt (Potsdam, Schloss Sanssouci). A number of his oil sketches can be linked to executed works. Unknown to scholars until now, the present study is likely to relate to a Saint John the Evangelist under the cross or a figure in an Ascension or Last Judgement.