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Lot 220
BARTHOLOMEUS BREENBERGH (DEVENTER 1598-1657 AMSTERDAM)
Allegory of Vanity
Closed27 January 2023
Price Realised
USD 69,300
More Information
BARTHOLOMEUS BREENBERGH (DEVENTER 1598-1657 AMSTERDAM)
Allegory of Vanity
signed and indistinctly dated ‘BBreenberg F. Ao 1647’ ('BB' linked, lower left); inscribed with an inventory number '[2]295.' (upper left)
oil on panel
14 1/8 x 18 1/4 in. (36 x 46.5 cm.)
Allegory of Vanity
signed and indistinctly dated ‘BBreenberg F. Ao 1647’ ('BB' linked, lower left); inscribed with an inventory number '[2]295.' (upper left)
oil on panel
14 1/8 x 18 1/4 in. (36 x 46.5 cm.)
BARTHOLOMEUS BREENBERGH (DEVENTER 1598-1657 AMSTERDAM)
Allegory of Vanity
signed and indistinctly dated ‘BBreenberg F. Ao 1647’ ('BB' linked, lower left); inscribed with an inventory number '[2]295.' (upper left)
oil on panel
14 1/8 x 18 1/4 in. (36 x 46.5 cm.)
Allegory of Vanity
signed and indistinctly dated ‘BBreenberg F. Ao 1647’ ('BB' linked, lower left); inscribed with an inventory number '[2]295.' (upper left)
oil on panel
14 1/8 x 18 1/4 in. (36 x 46.5 cm.)
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, New York, 26 January 2006, lot 25, where acquired by a private collector, and by whom sold,
[Property from an American Collection]; Sotheby’s, New York, 28 January 2010, lot 273, where acquired by the present owner.
[Property from an American Collection]; Sotheby’s, New York, 28 January 2010, lot 273, where acquired by the present owner.
When this painting first resurfaced in 2006, its attribution was confirmed by Professor Marcel Roethlisberger, author of the artist’s catalogue raisonné. He noted in particular the similarities in style and subject with two paintings by Breenbergh of similar size, also dated 1647, representing Diana and her Nymphs, one in the Musée de Grenoble (see M. Roethlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh: The Paintings, Berlin and New York, 1981, p. 88, no. 226, fig. 226) and another in a private collection (see M. Roethlisberger, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1991, no. 24).
Roethlisberger further suggested that, in contrast to the painting in Grenoble, the central classical female figure in the present painting does not represent a specific mythological figure. The subject of the painting has more recently been identified as an Allegory of Vanity on account of the old woman combing the young woman’s hair and the putto blowing bubbles, both of which allude to the transience, particularly as it relates to earthly beauty. Images of putti blowing bubbles – often accompanied by a skull – enjoyed special appeal in print culture at the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, while Jan Miense Molenaer allegorized Vanity in similar fashion in a painting from 1633, today in the Toledo Museum of Art (fig.1).
Roethlisberger further suggested that, in contrast to the painting in Grenoble, the central classical female figure in the present painting does not represent a specific mythological figure. The subject of the painting has more recently been identified as an Allegory of Vanity on account of the old woman combing the young woman’s hair and the putto blowing bubbles, both of which allude to the transience, particularly as it relates to earthly beauty. Images of putti blowing bubbles – often accompanied by a skull – enjoyed special appeal in print culture at the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, while Jan Miense Molenaer allegorized Vanity in similar fashion in a painting from 1633, today in the Toledo Museum of Art (fig.1).
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