Maerten Rijkaert
Pair of tondos: Tree-Lined Path with Figures and a Moated Castle in the Background (Allegory of Summer), Snowy Village Square with Figures and a Bridge in the Foreground (Allegory of Winter)
Oil on panel. Each 16 cm in diameter..
These two landscape paintings are probably from a series depicting the four seasons. They depict summer and winter. They were previously thought to be works by Jan Brueghel the Elder based on an attribution by Willem Vogelsang, professor in Utrecht (1875-1954). Two circular paintings with similar dimensions, also depicting summer and winter, attributed to Maerten Rijckaert, were sold on the art market in 1983 (Sotheby's Park Bernet, New York, 9 June 1983, lots 19 and 20, see RKD picture archive, The Hague, nos. 280055 and 280056). In its rapid and fluid rendering of foliage, figures and architecture, the present pair of works corresponds to Rijkaert's small-format paintings from the 1620s.
We would like to thank Ellis Dullaert of the RKD, The Hague, for her valuable support and for confirming the attribution to Maerten Rijckaert (written communication on the basis of photographs from 23rd January 2024).
Provenance
Private collection P. S. van Gelder Collection (not in his Geneva auction, Ch-D. Cosandier, 7 April 1933), - Unknown auction, lot 90-91, as Jan Brueghel the Elder. - With Walter Paech, as Jan Brueghel the Elder, date unknown. - In Belgian private ownership for several generations.