Lot 136: Alexander van Bredael (Antwerp 1663-1720)

The Ommegang in Antwerp at the Meir
signed and dated 'ALEXANDER.BREDAEL/1689' (lower left) and inscribed 'PET.V.ALEST/PICT.E./CAROLIV/AMDXXX.'
oil on canvas
40 3/8 x 75 1/2 in. (102.6 x 191.9 cm.)

Provenance:
Probably acquired in the early 19th century by Dr. Joseph Carlyle and thence by descent to Sir Fitzroy MacLean
The sale of his estate, Christie's, London, 13 December 1996, lot 233 (sold for £45,000)

The Ommegang, a religious festival, has been celebrated in Antwerp since the Middle Ages. It takes place on the 15 August, the first part marking the Virgin's ascension to heaven. The present painting depicts the second part, which was a secular event where the town's guilds vied with eachother to create the most splendid float in the procession. Bredael painted the scene in at least two other occasions in signed works of 1697 in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille.