Lot 11: Pieter Pietersz. Lastman (Amsterdam 1583-1633)

The Judgment of Midas oil on panel 33 x 391/4 in. (83.8 x 99.6 cm.) PROVENANCE Julius H. Weitzner, New York, April 1950, where purchased by Walter P. Chrysler, Jr; his sale, Sotheby's, New York, 1 June 1989, lot 43. with Verner Amell, London. LITERATURE P. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, 1986, p. 205, fig. 296. EXHIBITION Birmingham, England, 1957-58, p. 21, illustrated. Brunswick, Maine, 1963, no. 12. On loan to the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, July 1973. Sacramento, E. B. Crocker Art Gallery, The Pre-Rembrandtists, 7 December 1974 - 25 January 1975 (according to a label on the reverse). NOTES The present painting is one of three known versions of this subject by Lastman (the others being in Saint Petersburg and Kassel). Identified in the early literature as the Contest between Apollo and Marsyas, it actually depicts the Judgment of Midas . Lastman followed Ovid's account ( Metamorphoses XI, 179) quite closely. Timolus, the mountain deity, seated in the center, has judged a contest between Apollo and Pan, who appears on the right holding his pipes. Timolus correctly chose the musical gifts of Apollo over those of Pan, who initiated the contest. However, King Midas, at the right edge of the painting, indicates his disagreement by pointing to Pan. For his foolish judgment he is made to grow ass ears. This subject was a popular theme in both Italy and the North in the 16th and 17th centuries. Midas' punishment may be seen as a warning against choices for earthly enjoyments, but the judgment of Midas may be interpreted as an allegory of the uninformed connoisseur. The Birmingham catalogue (see above) notes a certificate by W.R. Valentiner dated 27 June 1946, stating the painting was by Lastman.