Beschreibung:

Studio of Hans van Aachen (1552-1615). The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, circa 1554, oil on bevelled panel, with Christie’s catalogue entry attached verso ‘Frans Floris / 34 The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian 17 1/2 x 13 in’s, further in pen and ink ‘£40’, and the stencilled Christie’s stock number ‘184HL’, remains of a red wax seal lower right verso, 46 x 33.8 cm (18 1/8 x 13 1/4 ins), gilt frame with egg and dart, acanthus leaf and bead motifs, 58.5 x 48 cm (Quantity: 1) Provenance: Christie's, 1 December 1944 (?) with the Christie’s catalogue entry attached verso ‘Frans Floris / 34 The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian 17 1/2 x 13 in’ and further in pen and ink ‘£40’, and the stencilled Christie’s stock number ‘184HL’; W. A. Foyle; Christopher Foyle, Beeleigh Abbey. Details of this accomplished version of Hans von Aachen's work show that it derives from Hans van Aachen’s modello for the altarpiece Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, sold at Dorotheum, 19 October 1993, lot 155, for approximately $70,000 hammer, rather than from the artist’s altarpiece, in situ in Michaelskirche, Munich, which departs from the present painting and the modello in certain respects; for example, the foreground figure to the right of the foreground in both the modello and the present painting is bare backed and bareheaded, whereas this figure is attired with helmet and cuirasse in the Munich altarpiece. The arched top of the altarpiece (unlike the present work and the modello) has also acquired further flying angels. The painting was previously given to Frans Floris; its distinctive palette, dominated by brown, red and flesh tones, set off by green shot with yellow, relates to Floris' painting style, exemplified in the Fall of the Rebel Angels by Frans Floris, oil on panel, 30.3 by 22 cm, inv. No. 112, in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.