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Lot Essay
This picture was one of a pair sold from the artist, collector and dealer Charles-Joseph-François Spruyt, who lived for much of his life in Ghent, where there is a painting by him of An invalid receiving the sacrament in the sacristy of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The pendant was described in the sale catalogue thus: 'Au devant de ce paysage une bergère et un patre causent ensemble'; it was sold to van den Berghe of Ghent for 24 francs.
The most important representative of the first generation of Dutch Italianates, Poelenburgh was most famous for his small, charming paintings, on copper or panel, of Italianate landscapes with figures, sometimes set in biblical or mythological scenes, sometimes in contemporary attire. Throughout his career he enjoyed the support of such noble and royal patrons as Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici, the Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate (the 'Winter King' of Bohemia), Prince Frederick Henry of Orange Nassau and King Charles I of England. Van Poelenburch was one of the most popular artists of his day, and, judging by his inclusion in the most important Dutch and French artists' biographies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, his high standing continued throughout the century after his death.
The Temple of the Sibyl, with its underbuildings, on a rock in the left background was a popular motif for Poelenburgh, used for example in his Mercury and Herse, generally dated to the 1620s (Mauritshuis, The Hague; exhibited London, Royal Academy, The Genius of Rome, 20 January-16 April 2001, no. 84), showing the enduring influence of Paul Bril, who had first used the Temple of the Sibyl in his landscapes with classical ruins, and with whose work Poelenburgh became familiar during his years in Rome between 1617-25.
The most important representative of the first generation of Dutch Italianates, Poelenburgh was most famous for his small, charming paintings, on copper or panel, of Italianate landscapes with figures, sometimes set in biblical or mythological scenes, sometimes in contemporary attire. Throughout his career he enjoyed the support of such noble and royal patrons as Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici, the Elector Frederick V of the Palatinate (the 'Winter King' of Bohemia), Prince Frederick Henry of Orange Nassau and King Charles I of England. Van Poelenburch was one of the most popular artists of his day, and, judging by his inclusion in the most important Dutch and French artists' biographies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, his high standing continued throughout the century after his death.
The Temple of the Sibyl, with its underbuildings, on a rock in the left background was a popular motif for Poelenburgh, used for example in his Mercury and Herse, generally dated to the 1620s (Mauritshuis, The Hague; exhibited London, Royal Academy, The Genius of Rome, 20 January-16 April 2001, no. 84), showing the enduring influence of Paul Bril, who had first used the Temple of the Sibyl in his landscapes with classical ruins, and with whose work Poelenburgh became familiar during his years in Rome between 1617-25.