JACOB DE BACKER (ANVERS 1560-1590/1591) - photo 1
JACOB DE BACKER (ANVERS 1560-1590/1591) - photo 2
JACOB DE BACKER (ANVERS 1560-1590/1591) - photo 3

JACOB DE BACKER (ANVERS 1560-1590/1591)

Lot 13
15.06.2023 15:00UTC +01:00
Classic
Sold
€ 47 880
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationFrance, Paris
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 974645
Lot 13 | JACOB DE BACKER (ANVERS 1560-1590/1591)
Estimate value
€ 20 000 – 30 000
JACOB DE BACKER (ANVERS 1560-1590/1591)

Le Jugement dernier, grisaille

huile sur papier contrecollé sur panneau

57,2 x 42,8 cm. (22 1/2 x 16 7/8 in.)

porte trois cachets héraldiques en cire, un d'Alexandre Dimitrievitch Lanskoï (voir infra), deux non identifiés (au revers du panneau)





Provenance

Collection d'Alexandre Dimitrievitch Lanskoï (1758-1784), Saint-Pétersbourg (selon un cachet de cire au revers du panneau).

Collection particulière, Munich.

Vente anonyme, Kastern Kunstauktionen, Hanovre, 28 septembre 2013, lot 114.

Vente anonyme, Sotheby's, New York, 29 janvier 2014, lot 4.



Literature

J. Müller Hofstede, 'Jacques de Backer: Ein Vertreter der Florentinisch-Fömischen Maniera in Antwerpen', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, XXXV, 1973, p. 239, reproduit en noir et blanc p. 231, Abb. 6.

E. Leuschner, 'A Grisaille Oil Sketch from the "De Backer Group" and Workshop Practices in Sixteenth-Century Antwerp,' Metropolitan Museum Journal, 2008, 43, p. 102.



Special notice


These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime.
Import VAT is payable at 5,5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately
on our invoice.






Post lot text

JACOB DE BACKER, THE LAST JUDGEMENT, GRISAILLE, OIL ON PAPER LAID DOWN ON PANEL

This spectacular grisaille was identified in 1973 by Justus Müller-Hofstede (J. Müller Holfstede, 1973, op. cit. supra) as the modello of the central panel of the famous Last Judgement triptych, executed in 1591 in memory of the Antwerp printer and publisher Christophe Plantin (c. 1520-1589), whose tomb in the ambulatory of the choir of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Cathedral in Antwerp this painting was to decorate. The triptych was seized by Napoleon's armies at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but was later restored and is now preserved in its original location.

All the main elements of the composition of the central panel of the triptych are visible in the modello. However, there are some changes visible between the details and those of the final work, which testify to the preparatory nature of the present painting.

In the triptych in Antwerp Cathedral, the dramatic scene of the Last Judgement is flanked by two panels depicting the donors: Christopher Plantin kneels at a prie-Dieu on the left-hand panel, accompanied by his young son, also named Christopher. Their patron saint is shown behind them, carrying the Christ Child on his shoulders. The printer's wife, Jeanne Rivière, also kneeling before a prie-Dieu, is shown on the right-hand panel with the couple's six daughters. Her patron saint, St. John the Baptist, points to the sacrificial lamb; placed behind the kneeling figures, this grouping reflects the composition on the left-hand panel.

Although there is no trace of the commission for this triptych, and consequently no proof of the author of these panels, the Last Judgement scene was attributed in 1763 to the Antwerp painter Jacob de Backer (1560-1590/1591) (E. Leuschner, 'Defining de Backer. New Evidence on the last phase of Antwerp Mannerism before Rubens', Gazette des beaux-arts, 2001, 137, 1587, p.189).

A little-known artist, none of the works mentioned as by his hand by Carel van Mander (1548-1606) in Het Schilder-Boeck (1604) have been concretely identified today. Although it is clear that a distinct artistic personality is behind the central panel of the cathedral triptych, as well as other representations of the Last Judgement, such as the one in the Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts (inv. no. 653) dated 1571, all executed in a distinct Italo-Nordic Mannerist style, the attribution to Jacob de Backer is ultimately more traditional than affirmed. This has led Prof. Dr. Eckhard Leuschner to publish the painter's works as part of the corpus of the "De Backer Group" rather than giving them to the artist himself (E. Leuschner, 2001, op. cit. supra).

The catalogue entry for the 2014 sale nevertheless specifies that Prof. Dr. Leuschner indicated that the modello was of high quality and could be related to the Last Judgement in Antwerp Cathedral. On the basis of the current attribution of the central panel of this triptych, which has been supported since the eighteenth century, it is quite reasonable to attribute the present painting to the same hand, that of Jacob de Backer.

In addition to the artistic qualities of this modello, this painting is a rare and early example of a type of grisaille oil sketch that would gain in popularity a few decades later, becoming an integral part of the practice of painters' studios – like that of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) – in the Southern Netherlands, as they saw it as a medium both informing and controlling the engravers responsible for reproducing their works.
Artist:Jacob de Backer (1555 - 1585)
Applied technique:Oil, Painted
Medium:Acrylic glass, Paper, Plastic
Art style:Old Masters
Place of origin:Belgium, Western Europe, Europe
Auction house category:Paintings
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
9 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris
France
Preview
15.06.2023
Phone +33 (0)1 40 76 85 85
Fax +33 (0)1 40 76 85 86
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@AGLSDAYQG1LYAK3YGRQ@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Tu 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
We 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Th 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Fr 09:00 – 00:00    00:00 – 18:00
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.