Lot 181: Christiaen van Couwenbergh (Delft 1604-1667 Cologne) A warrior kneeling before a woman on a throne

oil on canvas 160 x 180 cm. (63 x 70 7/8 in.) PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Milan LITERATURE: Dutch Classicism of the 17th Century, Exhibition Catalogue, Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, 25th September 1999 -9th January 2000; Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, 9th February 2000-30th April 2000 (ill. p.159, fig.24b.). Christiaen van Couwenbergh, the son of Gillis Gillisz. van Couwenbergh, a goldsmith, engraver and art dealer, studied in Delft in the studio of history and portrait painter Jan Dircksz. van Nes. He is thought to have travelled to Italy, a fact that has subsequently been disputed. Couwenbergh entered into the Guild of Saint Luke in 1627, and later in the Hague, where he was appointed head in 1649 and 1650. He finally settled in Cologne in 1654, where he set up practice as a portrait painter. The influence of northern caravaggists such as Terbrugghen, Baburen and Moyaert is evident in Couwenbergh's early painting, of which the present is, as Professor Albert Blankert points out `an unpublished painting which bears all the hallmarks of his work` (op.cit). We are grateful to Prof. Albert Blankert for confirming the attribution.