* ROERICH, NICHOLAS (1874-1947) Kulu Valley, from the "Kulu" series Tempera on canvas, 33 by 41 cm. numbered "N63" and dated 1928-29 on the stretcher. Provenance: Roerich Museum, New York, USA, 1927-1935. Collection of Luis and Nettie Horch, New York, USA, until 1957. The Dr Carlos Giro collection, USA. Acquired from the above. Private collection, New Jersey, USA. Li Provenance: Anonymous sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, 13 March 1957, lot 13. Finch College Museum of Fine Art, New York, no. 4783. Literature: K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jungere (1564-1637/38): Die Gemälde mit Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, I, Lingen 2000, p. 255, cat. no. 194 (illustrated). This striking composition shows The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, which presents the contrast between the folkloric Flemish customs of the two opposing liturgical seasons, Carnival and Lent, in the Southern Netherlands in the sixteenth century. Often, a personification of Carnival led a procession through town and presided over a large feast afterwards. The public enactment of a battle between the personifications of Carnival and Lent was a popular and important part of the festival. Well fed Carnival is sitting on an empty beer barrel on wheels on the left pointing a large skewer with three roasted poultry at the thin, pinched nun, Lent on the right. A man holding a waffle iron (waffles were Carnival specialities), is sitting in the empty beer barrel below Carnival. The figures behind them are singing, making noise and carrying food-related objects. The woman on the left of the singing man is wearing a necklace of sausages. The little boy with a pot on his head, behind the child wearing the yellow cape, is carrying a torch. Lit torches in daylight were used to symbolise the folly of Carnival. The cards and dice on the ground represent popular gambling games, which peasants played. Lent is sitting on a herring barrel on wheels, and is armed with a baker's shovel with three herrings pointed towards Carnival. The inexpensive fish provided the staple diet during Lent when the eating of meat and other delicacies was forbidden. The fish and the bread in the basket, which is hanging at the shovel, possibly refer to the figure of Christ. The yellow beehive Lent is wearing on her head is a symbol of the Catholic Church. The monks behind Lent are undertaking self-flagellation. The contrast between the two liturgical seasons is accentuated by the buildings in the background. The building behind Carnival is a tavern with a cake cooling in the window. The building behind Lent is a Church, the home for all Christians. The present lot was painted by an anonymous seventeenth century artist and follows a detail of one of the most popular compositions by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1525-1569), The Fight Between Carnival and Lent dated 1559, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (inv. no. GG_1016). The composition was not only replicated by his son, Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1637/8), but also by several other artists, resulting in at least 14 known versions or copies. The most similar composition to the present lot is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (inv. no. 49.82). Note on comparable images: © Pieter Brueghel the Elder, The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, 1559. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. © Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Combat Between Carnival and Lent, c. 1525 - 1569. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.