1116 - Michiel Sweerts

Michiel Sweerts SWEERTS, MICHIEL 1618/24 Brussels–1664 Goa Title: An Elegant Couple Visiting the Shepherds. Date: Around 1650. Technique: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 72 x 98.5 cm. Reverse: On the stretcher, an old, torn-off adhesive label with remnants of an inventory number; and on the frame, a collection label, Naples. Frame: Framed. The Flemish painter Michael (also known as Michiel) Sweerts has only been the subject of intensive research since the 1920s, and to this day, our understanding of his life and his remarkable body of work is continually being revised and expanded. The painting presented here is linked to the very latest findings concerning this artist, who worked in Rome for many years: On the occasion of an exhibition on Michael Sweerts at the Galleria Nazionale di San Luca in Rome, this version of a well-known motif was shown to the public in 2024 for the first time in many years. Detailed examinations have revealed that this painting is the original version by the artist himself, created in 1652 or earlier. The version previously considered to be the original—owned by the Accademia di San Luca in Rome itself—is now regarded as a second version by the painter and his workshop. Sweert’s remarkable ability to create a sense of tension and an electric atmosphere through his use of light, color, facial expressions, and nuance is particularly evident in this work. It depicts a scene worthy of a painting: an encounter between two social classes. Six shepherds, sitting around a fire on a dark embankment as they eat their meal, are approached by a young couple dressed in fine clothes. Three younger men in the background have stood up; one of them appears to be about to remove his cap. Their three older companions in the foreground do not interrupt their relaxed meal. The man reclining in the foreground with his back to the viewer, whose face is effectively backlit in profile by the fire, appears to be speaking to the couple. The shepherds are depicted in natural poses. Their section of the painting is rendered in earthy shades of brown, red, and beige. Michael Sweerts, about whose training nothing is known for certain, is documented in Rome from 1646 onward, where he painted alongside his compatriots, the so-called Bamboccianti, but also worked as an art agent. In addition to genre scenes and portraits, he frequently painted scenes depicting the training of artists. He is also said to have established a drawing academy for his patron, Prince Camillo Pamphilj. In 1655, Michael Sweerts is found once again in Brussels. The painter then opened an art academy in his hometown. Probably toward the end of the 1650s, Sweerts, who was also a lay brother in a religious order, joined the missionary organization “Missions Étrangères.” Via Amsterdam, where Michael Sweerts stayed for some time, he set out on a missionary journey to Palestine in 1661. In Persia, he left the missionary group and traveled to Goa in India, where he is said to have died in 1664 at the age of 46. Provenance: - Private collection, Italy; Private collection, Naples. Exhibition: Michael Sweerts. Reality and Mysteries in Seventeenth-Century Rome. Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome, November 7, 2024 – January 18, 2025. Literature: Exhibition catalog of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome, November 7, 2024 – January 18, 2025. Cat. no. 11, p. 93f, with ill. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: This lot is not suitable for parcel shipping. Transport is only available via a shipping company after consultation following the auction. Additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: max. 41.65 euros For a total invoice amount exceeding 25,000 euros: 1.8 per mille Shipping to the U.S. by individual arrangement after the auction. #Michiel Sweerts #Dutch School/Flemish School #Bambocchant #The Netherlands #17th C. #Couples #Animals #Old Masters.