17 - Flemish School. Antwerp. 16th century.

Flemish School. Antwerp. 16th century. “The Holy Family with an Angel” 94 x 74 cm. Our painting is featured and reproduced in the book *L'antiquària Maria Esclasans (1875–1947) i el comerç d'art antic a Barcelona* by Alberto Velasco. In this paragraph, he mentions its origin: “We know that several works passed through her hands, some of which she always kept in her collection. For example, a ‘Holy Family with an Angel,’ which may perhaps be identified with a work on this subject that Esclasans acquired in 1946 from a certain Maroto for twenty-two thousand five hundred pesetas, according to the notebook mentioned earlier.” The painting follows a well-known model by the Antwerp painter Marcellus Coffermans (c. 1549–1570), an artist who enjoyed considerable success in the Spanish market. It is the so-called “Virgin of the Grape,” which owes its name to the cluster of grapes that the angel offers to Jesus. Similar examples are known to exist, either preserved in or originating from various locations in Spain, such as the Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid, the Carmelite convent in Salamanca (now at the Bass-Art Foundation in Miami), the Hospital of Medina del Campo, and the church in Elgueta (Guipúzcoa), in addition to the three that are in private hands.” Provenance: - Former collection of María Esclasans, Barcelona. - Private collection, Barcelona. Bibliography: Alberto Velasco Gonzàlez, “L’antiquària Maria Esclasans (1875–1947) i el comerç d’art antic a Barcelona,” in Bonaventura Bassegoda; Ignasi Domènech (eds.), Agents of the Art Market and Collectors. New Studies on the Artistic Heritage of Catalonia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Bellaterra [et al.], Autonomous University of Barcelona [et al.], 2017, pp. 181–229.