Lot 2073 Dα

This monogrammed painting, dated 1662, belongs to a small group of secured works by the Flemish painter Jan van Dalen and has accordingly been of central importance for the reconstruction of his entire œuvre. It was only through the research of Guido M. C. Jansen that his œuvre first acquired recognizable contours. An earlier version of our painting, dated 1648 and also monogrammed, can be found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. In this work Bacchus holds a wine glass in his hand and wears a more sumptuous ivy wreath. Both paintings, as well as a signed "Laughing Bachus with Bottle" in the Szépmuvészeti Museum in Budapest, allowed Jansen to ascribe further works to van Dalen, including a fourth Bacchus, which was formerly considered the work of Salomon de Bray but which Jansen (op. cit) could securely identify as the work of van Dalem. Information on his biography is scarce. Van Dalem is thought to have been born in Brussels, where he began his education in 1621 as a student of Jacques Fyderby (Faydherbe). About ten years later he is known to have spent time in Rome, as can be concluded from a signed painting inscribed "in Roma". Here he was in contact above all with the so-called "bambocciants", the artists from the north who painted genre scenes with shepherds and farmers, southern landscapes, buildings and ancient ruins. However, of all the artists in Rome, van Dalem was most impressed by Caravaggio, whose works had a lasting effect on his style, as this group of depictions of Bacchus illustrates.