DAVID VINCKBOONS (DUTCH 1576 - 1632/33), ELEGANT... Lot n° 25

DAVID VINCKBOONS (DUTCH 1576 - 1632/33)ELEGANT COMPANY FEASTING WITH MUSICIANS BENEATH AN ARBOUROil on panelSigned and dated '1622' (lower centre)38 x 65cm (14¾ x 25½ in.)Provenance:With S. Nijstad, Lochem, 1962 (according to a card at the RKD)With Leo van der Eerden, Rotterdam, 1974 (as advertised in Antiques, see Literature)Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Christie's, 8 March 1984, lot 41Anonymous sale, Paris, Drouot, 4 June 1984, lot 49Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 29 October 1999, lot 28With Johnny Van Haeften, London, 2000With David Wade Fine Art, Yorkshire where Literature:Antiques, April 1974, p. 780 (according to a note at the RKD)J. Briels, Peintres flamands en Hollande au début du Siècle d'Or, 1585-1630, Paris 1987, pp. 100-1, no. 108, reproduced in colourO. Koester, Flemish Paintings 1600-1800, Copenhagen 2000, p. 279, under no. KMSsp175B. Nehlsen-Marten, Dirck Hals 1591-1656: Œuvre und Entwicklung eines Haarlemer Genremalers, Weimar 2003, pp. 68-69, under n. 196K. Ertz and C. Nitze-Ertz, David Vinckboons, 1576-1632. Monographie mit kritischem Katalog der Zeichnungen und Gemälde, Lingen 2016, p. 382, no. 136C. Laffon, Banquet dans un parc (Le Fils prodigue parmi les prostituées ) in S. Vézilier-Dussart (ed.), Fêtes et Kermesses au temps des Brueghel, exh. cat., Ghent 2019, p. 252, under no. 74This picture is either the prototype for, or a closely comparable version of the composition attributed to David Vinckboons in the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen.1 The Copenhagen painting, which is arguably less free in its handling, differs from the present work in having a greater amount of space above the lutenist's head and in portraying the woman at the far left in full, which suggests that the present panel has been reduced at the top and along its left-hand side. A copy after this composition, which last appeared on the market in 2016, further attests to its popularity.2 A merry group of nine men and women, accompanied by a dog, gather around a table laden with oysters and wine, among other delicacies. While one gentleman proffers his roemer towards the sky, another, on the right, fingers his lute beside a lady who sings from a book. The grand building in the background underscores the extravagance of the scene. Some scholars have proposed that this composition alludes to the parable of The Prodigal Son among the Harlots.3 Although this cannot be discerned with certainty, several elements support this hypothesis: the proximity between the figures, the oysters - both on the table and littered on the ground - as an aphrodisiac, and the free flowing wine.41 Inv. no. KMSsp175; oil on panel, 51 x 81.5 cm.; 2 Anonymous sale, Munich, Hampel, 30 June 2016, lot 806 (as Philips Vinckboons II).3 Koester 2000, pp. 279-80, no. KMSsp175; S. Heiberg, Christian IV and Europe: The 19th Art Exhibition of the Council of Europe, exh. cat., Denmark 1988, pp. 339-40, no. 1103; and Laffon in Ghent 2019, p. 252, no. 74, all discuss this theory in relation to the version in the National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen.4 Laffon in Ghent 2019, p. 252.