Sebastien VRANCX (Antwerp, 1573 - 1647) Spring or March Oil on oak panel, two boards Spring or The month of March, oil on oak panel, by S. Vrancx 11.81 x 16.14 in. 30 x 41 cm Provenance: Galerie De Jonckheere, Paris ; Acquired from the latter by the parents of the current owners in 1988; Private collection, France Allegories of the seasons are one of Sebastian Vrancx's favourite themes, which he designs in series. Take, for example, the series that went on sale at Sotheby's in 20131. Here, Vrancx depicts the month of March through the work of peasants in a garden near a castle: the earth is turned, flowers are planted and trees are pruned. Representing the daily activities associated with the different seasons of the year, paintings on this theme have filled the Flemish picture markets since the end of the 16th century. These works could take a variety of formats: Jacob Grimmer designed them on round wood, and added a religious or moral dimension: Hans Bol included scenes from the Old and New Testaments in his series on the seasons. Here, Vrancx offers a more literal interpretation, even if, taken together with the previous lot, it could be seen as an allegory of labour on the one hand and idleness on the other. We would like to thank Mr Joost Vander Auwera for kindly confirming the attribution of this work in an e-mail dated 13 June 2024. He places this painting around 1614. 1. Anonymous sale; New York, Sotheby's, 6 June 2013, no. 28 (a, b, c and d). Sebastien VRANCX (Antwerp, 1573 - 1647) 30 x 41 cm Allegories of the seasons are one of Sebastian Vrancx's favourite themes, which he devised in series. Take, for example, the series that came up for auction at Sotheby's in 2013 (1). In the present painting, Vrancx depicts the month of March through the work of farmers toiling in a garden near a castle: the earth has been turned, flowers planted and trees plucked. Representing the daily activities associated with the different seasons of the year, paintings on this theme have filled the Flemish picture markets since the end of the 16th century. These works could take a variety of formats - Jacob Grimmer painted them on round panels - and add a religious or moral dimension - Hans Bol included scenes from the Old and New Testaments in his series on the seasons. But here, Vrancx offers the viewer a more literal interpretation, even if, taken together with the previous lot, it could be seen as an allegory of labour on the one hand and idleness on the other. We would like to thank Joost Vander Auwera who kindly confirmed the attribution of this work in a letter dated 13 June 2024. He dates the painting to around 1614. 1. Anonymous sale; New York, Sotheby's, 6 June 2013, no 28 (a, b, c and d).