GEMÄLDE ALTER MEISTER 27. MÄRZ 2026

On the reverse are the brands of the City of Antwerp, showing the city gate with the two hands and splayed fingers, as well as the mark of the panel maker Michiel Claessens, an indication of the quality of the panel (see ill. 1). A petition dated 13 November 1617 called for establishment of official standards in the production of panels and frames; it was submitted to the mayor and aldermen of Antwerp by a group of members of the Guild of St Luke and ap- proved one month later. The initiative was launched by the alder- man Michiel Claessens together with twenty-one other panel ma- kers, mirror makers and frame makers. In the petition, the masters identified themselves by their personal symbols or initials, which they also branded onto their panels (see ill. 2). Michiel Claessens’s cloverleaf, visible on the reverse of the present panel, was even applied twice. Professor Jørgen Wadum, whom we also thank for his assistance in cataloguing this work, notes that the brands on this panel are of outstanding quality and that the wooden support survives in its ori- ginal state of workmanship, as evidenced by the pronounced tool marks on the surface. Wadum classifies the visible Antwerp brand as type no. 1, in use between 1617–1626 (see also Jørgen Wadum, ‘The Antwerp Brand on Paintings on Panel’, in ‘Looking through Paintings’, ed. Erma Hermens, London 1998, p. 189, pl. 2). In 1570, the publisher Hieronymus Cock (1518–1570) issued a series of four engravings depicting the Seasons. Two of these were based, in reverse, on drawings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (‘Spring’, Albertina, Vienna, and ‘Summer’, Kupferstichkabinett, Hamburger Kunsthalle). It remains unclear why Pieter Brueghel the Elder did not also provide models for autumn and winter; schol- arship has suggested his early death as a possible explanation. These two were instead drawn by Hans Bol (1534–1593). The composition of the pig slaughter in the painting presented here derives from the autumn version of the series of engravings. While it cannot be proven beyond doubt that our painting once formed part of a complete set of the seasons, this appears highly likely, particularly in view of the probability that it was sold in London in 1935 from the collection of Mme Mallet de Choisi together with the three other seasons. A notarised certificate of authorship issued by Marguerite Schulthess, Basel, in the same year sug- gests that the series was broken up and the works sold indivi- dually at that time. In addition to the aforementioned series auc- tioned in London and dated 1622, Klaus Ertz records three other series. One - in the National Museum in Bucharest - is the only ensemble still in museum ownership today. The two others are dated 1624. The first of these sold at Fischer Auktionen, Lucer- ne, in 1927 (lots 14–17) and at Christie's London in 2016 (lot 6). The other sold at Sotheby's London in 1972, and at the Galerie L. Koetser in the same year (Ertz 1988/2000, p. 542). The wonderfully preserved signature P. BREVGHEL which can be seen on our painting is characteristic of the artist and cor- responds to the form he adopted from 1616 onwards, where- as previously it had been modelled on his father’s signature: P. BRVEGHEL. The additional date of 1622 serves as a valuable ele- ment, firmly situating the work within the artist’s oeuvre. CHF 300 000/500 000 (€ 326 090/543 480) Abb. 1 Rückseite mit Marken Abb. 2 Liste der Panelenmacher mit Marken, Petition vom 13.11.1617, © Antwerp City Archives Beachten Sie unser Video zu Los 3027 39