Master of Princely Portraits (Active in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century) The Marriage of the Virgin and Christ Among the Doctors Two oils on panels The Marriage of the Virgin and Christ among the doctors, oil on panel, a pair, by the Master of the Portraits of Princes 14.17 x 7.87 in. 36 x 20 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; London, Sotheby's, 7 December 2005, no. 1 ; Galerie De Jonckheere, Paris ; Acquired from the latter by the parents of the current owners in 2006; Private collection, France Bibliography: Véronique Bücken, "Maître des Portraits princiers", in cat. exp. The Legacy of Rogier van der Weyden, Brussels, 2013, p. 226-227, ill. 158 and 159 Stéphanie Deprouw-Augustin, "Jean Beugier, alias le Maître des Portraits princiers. Un peintre de la fin du XVe siècle entre Amiens, Bruxelles et Bruges", Revue de l'Art, 2020/2, no. 208, pp. 17-29 (consulted online on 10 July 2024) Max J. Friedländer built up the corpus of the Master of Princely Portraits around the Portait d'un jeune homme de la famille Fonseca (Rotterdam, Musée Boijmans van Beuningen) and the Portrait dit d'Engelbert de Nassau (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Other portraits, small private devotional scenes and Virgins with Child (Antwerp, Ghent, Berlin, Louvre and the van Bibaut diptych in a private collection) were added to this group. In the studio of this painter, who favoured small-format works, Virgins with Child and devotional portraits were produced in series, with a few variations introduced. This is true of the portrait of Adolphe de Clèves, of which four versions are known. The painter also produced some more ambitious works. He took part in the Triptych of the Miracles of Christ (dated to around 1491-1495, Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria), painting the left-hand panel representing the Rest during the Flight into Egypt alongside two other Brussels masters, the Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine and Aert van den Bossche, who painted the rest. The exhibition held in Brussels in 2013 (op. cit.) also added a parade shield (London, British Museum) to this core group. Specialising in portraits of men, in particular dignitaries from the Court of Burgundy such as Philippe le Beau, Louis de Gruuthuse, Engelbert II de Nassau and Adolphe de Clèves, the Master of Princely Portraits excelled in individualising features, perhaps under the influence of Hugo van der Goes. We know, for example, that he drew on the spot, as shown by the sheet in the Berlin collections (Kupferstichkabinett, inv. KzD 4209) showing a portrait of a young man on one side and two studies of hands on the other. A number of painters have been put forward as more or less serious candidates for the identification of this anonymous master: Pieter van Coninxloo, Bernard van der Stockt, Lieven van Lathem and Jan van Coninxloo, but none has yet been selected due to a lack of convincing archival sources. Recently, Stéphanie Deprauw-Augustin suggested that the Picard painter Jean Beugier, who was active in Brussels, Bruges and Amiens between 1468 and 1500, should be included in the corpus of the master of Princely Portraits. Our two panels show a direct link with the compositions of Rogier van der Weyden, who was the first to impose the use of backgrounds inspired by existing architecture in Brussels painting, whereas it was customary to use gilded backgrounds or backgrounds decorated with polychrome motifs in the manner of brocades. In 1440-1441, van der Weyden designed a new house for the carpenters' guild on the Grote Markt, and tried his hand at architectural production. In the triptych of Saint Columba, kept at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (nos. WAF 1189, 1190 and 1191), he depicts the interior of a sacred building around 1455 when he depicts the Presentation in the Temple. This area of expertise was adopted by his followers, such as the Master of the Redemption in the Prado, the Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine, the Master of the Life of Joseph, the Master of the View of Saint Gudula and the Group with Embroidered Foliage. Our two scenes, the Marriage of the Virgin and Jesus Among the Doctors, are set within a décor inspired by a contemporary Brabant church, perhaps the Collegiate Church of Saints Michael and Gudule in Brussels. The painter set the narrative of the Marriage of the Virgin in the choir of a church, in which he paints the structural and ornamental elements of the building in minute detail, such as the rood screen, vaults, bays and bays, but also brings them to life with an ingenious effect of architectural cross-section. It is also possible to observe the figures inside, such as those accompanying the Virgin Mary as she enters the building. This staging can also be seen in a painting given to a follower of Rogier van der Weyden depicting the same episode, kept in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Antwerp (KIK-IRPA, 7602). As in our panel, the architectural elements are depicted in detail, and the effect of depth is provided by the depiction of a town in the background, as well as by the figures placed between the exterior and interior in an enfilade of architecture and the motif of the church tiles. It is possible that these two anonymous painters were inspired by the same prototype: perhaps a lost work by Rogier van der Weyden? Our two panels are two fine examples of a lesser-known aspect of the work of the master of princely portraits, which we hope will be the subject of new discoveries. We would like to thank Peter van den Brink for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work by means of a visual examination on 2 July 2024. Master of Princely Portraits (Active in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century) 36 x 20 cm Max J. Friedländer's corpus by the Master of the Portraits of Princes is built around the Portrait of a Young Man of the Fonseca Family (Rotterdam, Boijmans van Beuningen Museum) and the Portrait of Engelbert II van Nassau (Amsterdam Rijksmuseum). Additional portraits, small private devotional scenes and various Virgins with Child (Antwerp, Ghent, Berlin, Louvre and the one from the van Bibaut diptych held in private hands) were also added to the oeuvre of this painter, who favoured small-format works with a few variations in his devotional portraits. This is true of the portrait of Adolphe de Clèves, of which four versions are known. The painter also produced some more ambitious paintings. He participated in the Triptych with the Miracles of Christ (dated to around 1491-1495, now in Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria), painting the left-hand panel representing the Rest during the Flight into Egypt alongside two other Brussels masters, the Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine and Aert van den Bossche, who executed the rest. The exhibition held in Brussels in 2013 (op. cit.) also added a ceremonial shield to this nucleus (London, British Museum). Specialising in portraits of men, in particular dignitaries from the Court of Burgundy such as Philippe le Beau, Louis de Gruuthuse, Engelbert II de Nassau and Adolphe de Clèves, the Master of the Portraits of Princes excelled in individualising features, perhaps under the influence of Hugo van der Goes. We know, for example, that he drew from life, as shown by the work in the Berlin collections (Kupferstichkabinett, inv. KzD 4209) depicting a portrait of a young man on one side and two studies of hands on the other. Several painters have been put forward as more or less serious candidates for the identification of this anonymous master: Pieter van Coninxloo, Bernard van der Stockt, Lieven van Lathem and Jan van Coninxloo, but none of them has yet been selected due to a lack of reliable archival sources. Recently, Stéphanie Deprauw-Augustin suggested that the painter Jean Beugier, from Picardie, France, who worked in Brussels, Bruges and Amiens between 1468 and 1500, should be considered in the same context as the Master of the Portraits of Princes. Our two panels show a direct link with the compositions of Rogier van der Weyden, who was the first to impose the use of backgrounds inspired by existing architecture in Brussels painting, where it had previously been customary to use either gilded backgrounds or those adorned with polychrome motifs in the manner of brocades. In 1440-1441, van der Weyden designed a new house for the carpenters' guild on the Grote Markt, and tried his hand at depicting architectural elements. In the triptych of Saint Columba, kept at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (no. WAF 1189, 1190 and 1191), he shows the interior of a sacred building around 1455 in his painting of the Presentation in the Temple (fig. 1). This device was adopted by his followers, such as the Master of the Prado Redemption, the Master of the Legend of Saint Catherine, the Master of the Life of Joseph, the Master with the View of Saint Gudule and the group known as the Master of the Embroidered Foliage. Our two scenes, the Marriage of the Virgin and Christ Among the Doctors, are set within a décor inspired by a contemporary Brabant church, perhaps the Church of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels. The painter set the narrative of the Marriage of the Virgin in the choir of a church in which he paints the structural and ornamental elements of the building in minute detail, such as the rood screen, vaults and bays, while bringing them to life with an ingenious effect of an architectural section. It is also possible to observe the figures inside, such as those accompanying the Virgin Mary at the entrance of the building. This setting can also be seen in a painting given to a follower of Rogier van der Weyden depicting the same episode, which is kept in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp (fig. 2, KIK-IRPA, 7602). As in our panel, the architectural elements are depicted in detail, and the effect of depth is provided by the depiction of a town in the background, as well as by the figures placed between the exterior and interior in a succession of architecture and the motif of the church tiles. It is possible that these two anonymous painters were inspired by the same prototype: perhaps a lost work by Rogier van der Weyden? Our two panels are both wonderful examples of a lesser-known aspect of the work of the Master of Princely Portraits, which we hope will be the subject of new discoveries. We would like to thank Peter van den Brink for confirming the authenticity of this work following his examination of the painting on 2 July 2024.