Christoffel van den Berghe (Zugeschrieben) Lot n° 1

Christoffel van den Berghe (Attributed), View of a village street with horse carts and workshop for wagons Oil on copper. (Circa 1620/25). 17.7 x 26.2 cm. Stamped on verso "Der Landeskonservator in Salzburg" (not in Lugt). Framed. Although little is known about his life, Christoffel van den Berghe is tangible with his earliest dated painting in 1617. Probably born around 1590 in the northern Netherlands, he had to leave them because of his faith and became a resident of Middelburg in the southwest. There he is listed as a board member of the local St. Luke's Guild in 1619. In addition to painting floral still lifes in the manner of Ambrosius Bosschaert, who is named in some sources as his teacher, he also painted small river and village landscapes that recur those of Jan Brueghel the Elder and are invariably painted on copper. Thus, this small-scale village scene also bears his signature. Typical is the stippling manner of the paint application and the detail-loving, loupe-like small painted staffage. Provenance: Private property, Southern Germany. Taxation: Differentially taxed (VAT: Margin Scheme).