Lot 42: Studio of Jacob de Backer (Antwerp c. 1540/45-c. 1595)

Lot and his Daughters
oil on panel
76.3 x 108 cm.

The present composition is one of a number of studio versions based on Lot and his Daughters by De Backer in the Bildergalerie Sansoucci, Potsdam. Another example of a studio work is in the Matsushita Art Museum, Kagoshima, Japan (see Y. Kobayashi-Sato, 'Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Japan-I', Annual Report of the Bridgestone Museum of Art and the Ishibashi Museum of Art, XXXVII, 1988, pp. 35-6).

According to Dr. Müller-Hofstede (see J. Müller-Hofstede, 'Jacque de Backer. Ein Vertreter der Florentinisch-Römischen Maniera in Antwerpen', Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, XXXV, 1973, pp. 242-4), the reversed image of the daughter on the right corresponds with the figure of a Naiad in Naides and Cupids painted around 1553-5 by Taddeo Zuccaro. Because De Backer visited Italy in the 1560s, he may have had the opportunity to see Zuccaro's work.

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the final bid price of each lot sold at the following rates: 23.8% of the final bid price of each lot sold up to and including €150,000 and 14.28% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyers' premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.