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Lot 39 THE PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED COLLECTOR
FOLLOWER OF PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY
Ten months of the year
Closed10 June 2022
Price Realised
USD 264,600
More Information
Specialist note
The artistic representation of the months of the year derives from the early Middle Ages when it was customary to decorate calenders in illustrated manuscripts with the signs of the Zodiac and the Labors of the Months, to indicate Man's toil on earth and the passing of terrestrial time. These became a commonplace feature of Romanesque and Gothic church decoration, often forming part of the iconographic program on the portal sculpture of their west façades, as well as appearing on capitals. In the later Middle Ages the decoration of Books of Hours afforded artists the space and freedom to develop the theme of the Months, placing a variety of figures performing everyday activities in evocative landscapes.
Perhaps the most famous treatment of this theme is the celebrated series of The Seasons painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder for Nicolaas Jonghelinck in 1565-66. Bruegel executed a total of six works, each representing two months at a time: Hunters in the Snow (January/February), The Gloomy Day (March/April) and The Return of the Herd (November/December) are all in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; The Corn Harvest (September/October) is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Hay Making (July/August) is in the National Gallery, Prague. The location of the sixth painting (May/June) is currently unknown. Bruegel's masterpieces formed the basis for many subsequent versions of the Months, and the present series is clearly inspired by these works. When Jacques Goudstikker purchased them at Christie's, London on 18 July 1930 they were a set of twelve; however, when they were recovered by the Allies in 1945, the panels representing the months of January and February – shown here in black-and-white images – were missing, and they are offered here as a set of ten.
An attribution to Lodewyck Rem (d. 1603), a largely unknown painter active in Antwerp and Kampen, has recently been proposed. Comparison with a work by Rem that is signed and dated 1602 (offered Dorotheum, Vienna, 6 October 1999, lot 244) suggests the paintings are unlikely to be by the same hand.
Perhaps the most famous treatment of this theme is the celebrated series of The Seasons painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder for Nicolaas Jonghelinck in 1565-66. Bruegel executed a total of six works, each representing two months at a time: Hunters in the Snow (January/February), The Gloomy Day (March/April) and The Return of the Herd (November/December) are all in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; The Corn Harvest (September/October) is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Hay Making (July/August) is in the National Gallery, Prague. The location of the sixth painting (May/June) is currently unknown. Bruegel's masterpieces formed the basis for many subsequent versions of the Months, and the present series is clearly inspired by these works. When Jacques Goudstikker purchased them at Christie's, London on 18 July 1930 they were a set of twelve; however, when they were recovered by the Allies in 1945, the panels representing the months of January and February – shown here in black-and-white images – were missing, and they are offered here as a set of ten.
An attribution to Lodewyck Rem (d. 1603), a largely unknown painter active in Antwerp and Kampen, has recently been proposed. Comparison with a work by Rem that is signed and dated 1602 (offered Dorotheum, Vienna, 6 October 1999, lot 244) suggests the paintings are unlikely to be by the same hand.