Netherlandish School

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Netherlandish School

16th century

Portrait of a Bareheaded Man, with a Fur Collar

Gray-brown wash, pen and brown ink, brown and black chalk, on laid paper; faming in brown ink on three sides.

8 7/8 x 6 1/8 inches (225 x 156 mm)

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

I, 225a

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Notes:

Watermark: hand, with cuff (cf. Briquet 11401: Grammont, 1486). Placed between chain lines, fingernail on thumb.
For centuries, this portrait and another at the Morgan (inv. I, 225b) were thought to be original self-portraits by the legendary fifteenth-century artists Jan and Hubert van Eyck. In reality, this work was probably drawn in the early sixteenth century and may depict a Jerusalem pilgrim, in which case the conspicuous line running from the man's chest to just under his ear would be an indication of his palm leaf. Although the portrait has a strong presence, the artist did not paint it after a live model but copied it after another artwork: a clue is the somewhat clumsy correction in the contour line of the man's left cheek. -- Exhibition Label, from "Hans Memling: Portraiture, Piety, and a Reunited Altarpiece"

Inscription:

Inscribed at lower left, in brown ink, "I.V.Eyck". On verso, at lower left, in Goll van Franckenstein's hand, in brown ink, his number "(N.2183)", with repetition (partially trimmed), in another brown ink, in the same hand that also copied it on verso of I, 225b.

Provenance:

Jan Pietersz. Zoomer (stamp poorly printed; Lugt 1511); Johan van der Marck Aegzn. (no mark; see Lugt 3001); his sale, Amsterdam, Hendrik de Winter & Jan Yver, 29 November 1773, lot 1855 (self-portrait by Jan van Eyck; with lot 1856 to Greebe for Fl.5); Jonkheer Johann Goll van Franckenstein the Elder (1722-1785; see Lugt 2987); Jonkheer Johan Goll van Franckenstein the Younger (1756-1821); Jonkheer Pieter Hendrik Goll van Franckenstein (1787-1832); his sale, Amsterdam, De Vries ... Roos, 1 July 1833, Album AA, lot 11 ("Hubert en Jan van Eyck, 2 stuks, a.o ["o" superscript] 1400. Met zw. krÿt, door henzelven"; to Gruyter for Fl.12.25); probably Miss James, London; her sale, Christie's, 23 June 1891, lot 268 (J. van Eyck, "A Portrait resembling Martin Luther-signed J.V. Eyck:; to Robinson with lot 267 [I, 225b] for £8.8.0); Sir John Charles Robinson (no mark; see Lugt 1433); his sale ("Well-known Amateur"), Christie's, 12-14 May 1902, lot 133 ("Eyck, Jan van, Ascribed to. Portrait of a Man-pen and wash. From the J. P. Zoomer Collection. Exhibited at the Guildhall, 1895"; to Johnstone for £13.0.0); Charles Fairfax Murray, London (ascribed to Van Eyck in his Inventory); Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.

Associated names:

Anonymous, Flemish School, 16th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Zoomer, Jan Pietersz, 1641-1724, former owner.
Aegzn, Johan van der Marck, former owner.
Greebe, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, J. (Johann), 1722-1785, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, Johan, 1756-1821, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, Pieter Hendrik, 1787-1832, former owner.
Gruyter, former owner.
James, Miss, -approximately 1891, former owner.
Robinson, J. C. (John Charles), Sir, 1824-1913, former owner.
Johnstone, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.

Bibliography:

Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 8, no. 10, repr.

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