Lot number 40 - Auction 165
FLÖTESPIELENDER HIRTE

ATTRIBUTED TO PAULUS MOREELSE 1571 Utrecht - 6 March 1638 ibid. SHEPHERD PLAYING THE FLUTE Oil on canvas (old relining). 83 x 66 cm (F. 104 x 86.5 cm). Verso: Old inventory number of the auction house Christie's, '997PI'. Part. old rest., old retouching. Frame. Literature: The painting is illustrated and discussed in: Blankert, Albert, Ferdinand Bol - Rembrandt's Pupil (1616-1680), Doornspijk, 1982, p. 173, R. 99, fig. 110. There it is tentatively attributed to Adriaen Backer. A comparable composition with the same subject as the present painting is in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. The attribution of the present painting to Paulus Moreelse was made by Prof. Dr Werner Sumowski in a personal letter dated 6 December 1988 to Prof. Dr Schönberger. See also Sumowski, Werner, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, vol. 5, Landau, 1983, p. 3064, note 47, where he writes: "The following is a list of more recent attributions that must be rejected. In the order of their previous attributions: 'A. Backer': 'Shepherd with Flute'. Canvas, 82 x 67 cm. Mainz, private collection. Provenance: Sale Spik, Berlin, 11 November 1965, no. 182, illustrated (Bol); Frankfurt art trade (Backer?). Blankert 1982, p. 173, R 99, fig. 110 ('attractive picture reminiscent of J. Backer: Adriaen Backer?'). The painting is by Paulus Moreelse (Utrecht 1571-1638); compare the painting of the same subject in Edinburgh (McNeil Kettering 1983, fig. 5)." Provenance: Leo Spik Auction House, Berlin, 11 November 1965, no. 182 (illustrated), there attributed to Ferdinand Bol; previously in the Frankfurt art trade.