Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child through a Sinful World,
oil on panel, 84 x 114.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
art market, London, 2012;
where acquired by the present owner

Exhibited:
Tokyo, Utsunomiya Museum of Art, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Fantastic Art in Belgium, 19 March 2017 – 24 September 2017, cat. no. 8 (as Flemish Anonymous, c. 1560–1570);
Cassel, Musée de Flandre, on loan between December 2012 – May 2023, inv. no. D.2012.2.1 and exhibited in: Splendeurs du maniérisme en Flandre. 1500–1575, 4 May – 29 September 2013, cat. no. 44 (as Flemish Anonymous, third quarter of the 16th century);

Literature:
S. Vézilier-Dussart, Splendeurs du maniérisme en Flandre. 1500–1575, exhibition catalogue, Ghent 2013, pp. 179–181, no. 44 (as Flemish Anonymous, third quarter of the 16th century);
U. Bijutsukan, H. Bijutsukan, Fantastic Art in Belgium, exhibition catalogue, Tokyo 2017, p. 41, no. 8. (as Flemish Anonymous, c. 1560–1570)

The present painting closely relates to the body of work, of one of the most innovative painters of the early sixteenth century, Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516). The artist pioneered a newly-developed pictorial language whose motifs, as is the case in the present panel, continued to enjoy tremendous popularity with countless copies and interpretations long after the master’s death in 1516. Replete with fantastical imagery, this lucid and dreamlike scene executed by a gifted follower, serves to remind viewers of the terrors awaiting those who succumb to the worldly temptations that lead to spiritual corruption. Surrounded by worldly temptations and wickedness, the gigantic figure of Saint Christopher stands at the centre of the composition, a model for achieving salvation through the performance of good deeds.

The subject of Saint Christopher carrying the Christ Child across a river is recounted in the Legenda aurea, a series of saints’ lives written in the thirteenth century by Jacopo de Voragine. The saint, whose given name was initially Reprobus, was a Canaanite man of huge stature, who sought to serve the most powerful person in the land. Reprobus first served the King of Canaan, believing him to be the greatest king there was, until one day he saw that the king feared the devil. He next rendered his service to the devil, until he saw him too trembling before the Cross, whereupon he resolved to serve Christ, carrying the poor and weak across the river, guided by a hermit. One night he carried a small child, who grew heavier with each step, until revealing himself as Christ, telling Saint Christopher that he had been carrying the weight of the world.

In this work, Bosch’s anonymous follower captures the exact moment when the giant is dejectedly looking back in search of the child, who has now unveiled himself as Christ holding the globus cruciger in one hand, and blessing the saint with the other, whilst two birdlike fish bite his feet. Behind the pair is a monstrous fish, shaped like a ship sailing along the river, and an archer riding another sea monster on the right, whilst devilish human-animal hybrid creatures run around beneath their feet. On the far right, a hermit holds out a lantern – sometimes identified with the light of Christian knowledge – guiding the pair towards land.

The present painting may be compared with other treatments of the same subject by Bosch and his followers. Bosch himself however only depicted the saint once in a panel now conserved in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (inv. no. St 26). Indeed, it was amongst Bosch’s followers that the subject presented an opportunity to explore sweeping and often fantastically mysterious depictions of landscapes. The current work may be compared with other treatments of the same subject by followers of Bosch, such as a version sold at Christie’s, London (see sale, Christie’s, London, 3 May 2015, lot 3, as Follower of Hieronymus Bosch); an interpretation by Jan Mandyn in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (inv. no. 59.48); De Heilige Christoffel conserved in Het Noordbrabants Museum, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (inv. no. 08057); and another version registered in M. J. Friedländer’s photo archive at the RKD (under no. 0000074686).

Despite the uniqueness of this particular composition, it is highly likely that the anonymous artist had been familiar with a print by Johannes van Doetecum I (1528/32–1605) and Lucas van Doetecum (active 1554–72, died before 1589), after Hieronymus Bosch, which was published by Hieronymus Cock (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 2019.463.1; see fig. 1). Paintings made by these followers of Bosch sometimes bore false signatures, as these artists, putting aside their own personalities, sought to profit from Bosch’s popularity. For this reason, it can be difficult to securely attribute uncertain works dating from the artist’s own lifetime to Bosch and his workshop. Amongst the few artists who successfully emerged from anonymity, despite their close proximity to Bosch’s imagery, were the painters Jan Mandyn (circa 1500 – circa 1560), Frans Verbeeck (circa 1510–1570) and Jan Wellens de Cock (1480–1527), as well as Pieter Huys (circa 1519 – circa 1584).

Technical analysis by Gianluca Poldi
The work is painted over three horizontal boards (now thinned and cradled), probably oak, and prepared with a white ground, as is usual in Flemish painting of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Infrared reflecto­graphy revealed a detailed and fascinating underdrawing, carried out with black chalk, substantially freehand, without any evidence of a transfer by means of cartoon or translucent paper of the individual figures from previous 1:1 studies on paper. It is a style of drawing that quickly traces the contours of most of the figures and sometimes outlines the shading with great ease, as in the case of the grey-blue-purple robe of Saint Christopher, his mantle and legs.

A few figures, such as the bagpipe player on the far left and the fish-man in front of him, do not show traces of underdrawing: probably the painter created them directly with the brush, as they are part of the repertoire derived from Bosch, dedicating instead his graphic attention to the more complex figures. Even the landscape is just sketched, with a few rough strokes, while the figures on the boats are added in the pictorial phase.

The creative richness of the painter is also highlighted thanks to some graphic modifications, as in the crippled man at the bottom right, who carries a mussel shell on his shoulders: his face was originally a simple profile of a man, and only during painting the painter transforms it into a dog’s head (see fig. 2).

Regarding the pictorial palette, spectroscopic analyses allowed to detect two different blue pigments: mineral azurite and synthetic smalt blue, the latter partially discoloured – as very frequently happened in siccative oil, throughout the centuries. In fact, smalt blue was used mainly in the sky – becoming grey-blue – and in the Child’s mantle, now grey but originally deep blue; while azurite was found in the actual blue areas, like the sea, the hills and clothes. The other pigments include lead white, lead-tin yellow, the brilliant red vermillion, a pink-red lake, ochres and brown earths.