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Lot Essay
This refined, small-scale copy after Francesco Bassano once formed part of a set of the Four Seasons (for Winter, see the following lot). The catalogue to the 1958 Parke-Bernet sale records a letter from Dr. Ludwig Burchard dated 21 June 1955 in which the scholar praises the set's perfect preservation, noting that they ‘are still today in mint state,’ praise which is equally valid today. In these scenes, figures are engaged in activities associated with the particular season, such as the sheering of sheep in Spring and the splitting of wood in Winter. Teniers made these works in preparation for his groundbreaking publication Theatrum Pictorum, or Theater of Painting (Antwerp, 1658). This illustrated catalogue of paintings, the first of its kind, documented 243 major Italian pictures from the collection of Teniers’ patron, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1646 until 1656. In 1651, already an established and successful artist, Teniers had begun working for Leopold Wilhelm as both painter and overseer of his art collection, composed of around 1,300 items that included works by Raphael, Giorgione, Titian and Bassano, among many others; it later became the basis of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Teniers made multiple paintings of Leopold Wilhelm’s gallery: in a work now in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Neue Schloss Schleissheim, Oberschleissheim, Bassano's Spring, the model for the present painting, is visible (fig.1). In compiling the works for the Theater of Painting, Teniers painted copies of the selected pictures, including the present works, in 1656. These copies served as models for the group of twelve engravers who assisted him on the project. Theater of Painting was highly popular, prompting the publication of four later editions. Among its owners were prominent artists, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose copy is now in the British Library.
In the nineteenth century, Teniers' series of the Four Seasons after Bassano belonged to James Christie, at whose 1820 estate sale they featured. All four paintings remained together until at least 1943, though by 1958 Summer had been separated from the other three panels. The panel depicting Summer last sold Hampel, Munich, 8 December 2007, lot 1805, while that of Autumn sold Lempertz, Cologne, 19 November 2016, lot 1060.
Teniers made multiple paintings of Leopold Wilhelm’s gallery: in a work now in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Neue Schloss Schleissheim, Oberschleissheim, Bassano's Spring, the model for the present painting, is visible (fig.1). In compiling the works for the Theater of Painting, Teniers painted copies of the selected pictures, including the present works, in 1656. These copies served as models for the group of twelve engravers who assisted him on the project. Theater of Painting was highly popular, prompting the publication of four later editions. Among its owners were prominent artists, including Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose copy is now in the British Library.
In the nineteenth century, Teniers' series of the Four Seasons after Bassano belonged to James Christie, at whose 1820 estate sale they featured. All four paintings remained together until at least 1943, though by 1958 Summer had been separated from the other three panels. The panel depicting Summer last sold Hampel, Munich, 8 December 2007, lot 1805, while that of Autumn sold Lempertz, Cologne, 19 November 2016, lot 1060.