IMAGE DETAILS

Jan Muller Antiques

Jan Brueghel the Elder (Brussels 1568-1625 Antwerp)
The element of earth, 1606
Oil on copper
10.7 x 10.7 cm
Signed 'BRVEGHEL 1606'
Expert’s certificate by Dr. Luuk Pijl on 6 September 2024
Provenance: The Rowley Gallery Ltd; four generations at the Palmer collection at Bussock Wood, United Kingdom expertise n° 456

This beautifully preserved, miniature-like, painting on copper by Jan Brueghel the Elder is an exciting discovery. It once belonged to a set of four elements, two paintings are known, another one is missing. Jan Brueghel was fascinated by the rendition of the classical elements Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. His set of four elaborate paintings in the Doria Pamphilj collection in Rome and the beautiful set nowadays divided between the Louvre, Paris and the Galeria Ambrosiana, Milan are among his finest and most ambitions works.

The present Element of Earth was entirely unknown till it resurfaced in England earlier this year. Two other elements, Air and Fire, from the very same set were offered together at Christie´s, London, 24 July 1931, lot 155. The element of Air was last seen at art dealer Raffael Valls, London (his 2003 catalogue, n° 10), while Fire was, in 1990, with the German dealer Ekkart Lingenauber. Nothing is known as to the whereabouts of the missing painting representing the element Water (see: Klaus Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere, Lingen 2008-10, III, pp. 1058-59).

The elements in the set are represented by a deity. In the present work the element of Earth is exemplified by Ceres with four companions. Ceres stands for earth, harvest and abundance. She is usually depicted with ears of corn and flowers in her hair and the cornucopia. The figures are surrounded by a wealth of beautifully rendered flowers and fruits and at the left hand side we see in the vista tiny figures harvesting. At the right of the figures a peaceful gathering of deer and rabbits is depicted under a large tree. A suggestion of architecture is painted in the blue hazy distant vista at the left. It is remarkable that the sobriquets put upon our master such as Velvet Brueghel, Flower Brueghel, and Paradise Brueghel all apply to this gem-like painting of such modest scale.

Jan Brueghel was born 1568 in Brussels as the son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Mayken Coecke van Aelst. His famous father died when he was only one year old and Karel van Mander wrote in his Schilder-boeck, published in 1604, that he and his brother Pieter were taught drawing and painting by their grandmother Mayken Verhulst. As his father, he travelled to Italy where he is documented, in Naples, in 1590. He managed to interest several important patrons in his creations, most notably Federico Borromeo, the founder of the Galleria Ambrosiana in Milan. After his return in Antwerp, in 1596, he developed a close friendship with Rubens and the two masters often collaborated. He died in 1625 leaving a large and very diverse oeuvre, which had much impact on the next generation painters and draftsmen in Antwerp and far beyond.