77 - ATTRIBUTED TO JAN VAN DEN HOECKE

ATTRIBUTED TO JAN VAN DEN HOECKE Antwerp c. 1611 – 1651 Ceres Oil on canvas Dimensions 45.5 x 35.5 cm Fragment of a larger composition, depicting a richly attired, allegorical female figure silhouetted against a dark background. The work was identified in 1996 by art historian Dr. Erik Larsen as a fragment of a larger composition and was then attributed to Jan Boeckhorst (1604–1668). Larsen linked it to the allegorical compositions Boeckhorst created in collaboration with Pieter Boel, also noting the existence of two large canvases related to this series. The traditional attribution to Boeckhorst should be reconsidered in light of subsequent research on the work of Jan van den Hoecke. In 1990, Hans Vlieghe published a study specifically dedicated to distinguishing the works of both artists, under the telling title *Nicht Jan Boeckhorst, sondern Jan van den Hoecke* (Not Jan Boeckhorst, but Jan van den Hoecke). Subsequently, in 2019, Jahel Sanzsalazar reconstructed Van den Hoecke’s corpus of Sibyls, demonstrating the existence of various series and versions previously attributed to other painters in Rubens’s circle. The present painting, due to its format, typology, and treatment of the figure, is particularly interesting in the context of this revision of attribution. A magnificent 17th-century Spanish Baroque frame, carved and gilded with fine gold leaf, features burnished areas and others where the wear of the gold reveals the richness of the reliefs. The large cartouches, decorated with estofado and punchwork on stucco, stand out, along with the profuse vegetal ornamentation. Due to the quality of its carving, decorative richness, and gilding technique, the frame is a piece of special interest, conceived as a first-rate artistic element and not merely as a complement to the painting. Bibliography: - H. Vlieghe, “Nicht Jan Boeckhorst, sondern Jan van den Hoecke,” Westfalen, LXVIII, 1990, pp. 166–183. - J. Sanzsalazar, “Jan van den Hoecke (1611–1651), the painter of Sibyls: success, inspiration, and dispersion of a very personal iconography,” Philostrato, 5, 2019, pp. 5–32. - Report by Dr. Erik Larsen, July 15, 1996.