(Antwerp 1601–1678)
(Antwerp 1597–1655)
Madonna and Child in a flower garland,
oil on panel, 119.4 x 88.9 cm, framed

The present painting is accompanied by a certificate issued by Klaus Ertz (September 2018).

Ertz writes: ‘I am convinced that the flowers are by the hand of the Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Younger and the figures of Mary and the Child are by Cornelis Schut, both of whom jointly executed this excellently conserved painting in Antwerp around 1630. During the first half of the seventeenth century it was entirely typical of Flemish painting that artists working in different genres would team up to create pictures like the present example that gave a surprisingly homogeneous impression. The arrangement of the flowers is typical of a relatively early period in Jan Brueghel the Younger’s career, as they have been painted closely packed with overlapping leaves, stems, and small blossoms, which makes the wreath appear three-dimensional. The roses and imperial crown, never lacking in a wreath around the Virgin Mary, are almost a kind of signature of the flower painter Jan Brueghel the Younger. The two figures of Mary and the Child identify Cornelis Schut as a pupil of his famous model, Peter Paul Rubens.’