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*Jan Gossaert called Mabuse (1478-1536)
the holy family.
Pen and two colors of brown ink, on vellum.
155 by 127mm.
Provenance:
E. Rodrigues (without his mark), his sale, Amsterdam, F. Muller & Co., 12-13 July 1921, lot 30, pl.xii, (1200 florins to Cassirer);
Leo Blumenreich, Berlin.
Literature:
Max J. Friedlander, Die Altniederlandische Malerei, vol.viii, 'Jan Gossart, Bernart van Orley', Leiden 1934, p.65, cat.14; revised, English edition, 1972, p.42, cat.14, pl.66.
Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections, Supplement, The Hague 1956, p.128, under L.897;
Paul Wescher, 'Neue Beitrage zum Schaffen des Jan Gossaert,' Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, xxxii, Cologne 1970, pp.106-7, fig.77.
Gossaert entered the Antwerp guild of St. Luke in 1503. In 1508 he travelled to Rome, together with his patron, Philip of Burgundy, in order to make drawings after ancient sculptures, probably returning to the north in July of 1509. When Philip was named Bishop of Utrecht in 1517, and moved to the Bishop's Palace at Wijk-bij-Duurstede, fifteen miles south of Utrecht, it is likely that Gossaert accompanied him. He is known to have worked in Utrecht during the following years, designing choir stalls and an altar grille for the cathedral.
Despite the classicizing influence of his Roman experiences, even after his return from Italy, Gossaert's drawing style retained a nervous, mannerist quality, and is characterized by short, parallel and curving lines, with cross-hatching to emphasise the shading. As in this drawing, the facial and figure types show an awareness of Durer's works, and particularly of his prints, but the approach to drapery is thoroughly Netherlandish, looking back to 15th-century prototypes. The very intimate depiction of the relationship between mother and child is also a recurring aspect of the artist's representations of this subject; see for example the print of the Madonna and Child, of c.1522, or the slightly earlier painting of St. Luke Painting the Madonna and Child, in Vienna (see Jan Gossaert genaamd Mabuse, exh.cat., Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, and Brugge, Groeningemuseum, 1965, cats. 12 and 71). In the Vienna painting, the pose and characterization of the Christ Child also closely resemble those seen here.
Comparisons with these two works in other media would suggest a dating for the present drawing of around 1520. Although the number of surviving drawings by Gossaert is small, and relatively few of those that are known can be precisely dated, this would nonetheless appear to fit well with the general view of the development of the artist's drawing style. Clearly, this extremely subtle drawing is substantially later than Italian period drawings such as the Standing Apollo after the antique (Venice, Gallerie dell' Accademia), yet must be earlier than the rather broader late drawings, such as the Adam and Eve, in Vienna, which appears to be dated 1525; a drawing, possibly representing King Solomon, formerly in the Curtis Baer collection, dated 1521, may in fact be the closest in time to the Koenigs Holy Family. (see exh.cat. Rotterdam/Brugge, cats. 48, 50 and 61)