Property restituted from the Olomouc Museum of Art, Czech Republic
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
Mercury brings the head of Argus to Juno
No reserve
Lot Closed
December 9, 03:53 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property restituted from the Olomouc Museum of Art, Czech Republic
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
Amsterdam 1621 - 1674
Mercury brings the head of Argus to Juno
signed and dated lower left: G.V. Eeckhout fe. / A 1672.
oil on canvas
unframed: 39.9 x 31.2 cm.; 15¾ x 12⅝in.
framed: 61.9 x 53.5 cm.; 24⅜ x 21 in.
With K. Dittrich, Brno;
From whom acquired by a private collector, Czech Republic, after 1945;
From whom confiscated and deposited at the Olomouc Museum of Art (inv. no. D427), in 1958;
Returned to the heirs of the original owner in 1993, when loaned to the Olomouc Museum of Art.
A. Pigler, Barockthemen, Budapest and Berlin 1956, vol. II, p. 130;
L. Machytka, Nizozemské malířství ve sbírkách olomoucké oblasti, 2 vols, unpublished dissertation, Olomouc 1970, vol. II, pp. 325-26;
R. Roy, Studien zu Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, doctoral diss., Vienna 1972, p. 112, no. 221, reproduced no. 73.
A. Jirka, Vlámské a holandské malířství XVII. století z moravských sbíerk, exh. cat. Zlín 1981, no. 32;
W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, vol. II, Landau 1983-1994, p. 744, no. 484 (as in Oblastní Galerie, Olomouc);
J. Sluiter, De 'Heydensche Fabulen' in de noordnederlandse schilderkunst circa 1590-1670. Een proeve van beschrijving en interpretatie van schilderijen met verhalende onderwerpen uit de klassische mythologie, The Hague 1986, p. 444, notes 103-9;
L. Machytka, Obrazy nizozemskýchí malířů na Olomoucku. Okresní archiv v Olomouci 1987, Olomouc 1988, p. 51, note 64;
P. H. Janssen and W. Sumowski, Rembrandt's Academy, exh. cat., Hoogsteder & Hoodsteder, The Hague 1992, pp. 134-37, reproduced fig. 11b;
L. Machytka, ‘Nové poznatky o nizozemských obrazech v Olomouci’, in Ročenka Státního okresního archivu v Olomouci 1998, Olomouc 1999, p. 139;
L. Machytka and G. Elbelová (eds), Netherlandish Painting of the 16th-18th centuries from Olomouc Collections. Olomouc Picture Gallery, vol. II, Olomouc 2000, pp. 43-45, no. 22, reproduced p. 44.
The story of Io is told in Book One of Ovid's Metamorphoses: Jupiter, ruler of the heavens, falls in love with the beautiful Io, daughter of the King of Argos. Jupiter transforms Io into a white heifer to disguise her from his wife, Juno. The suspicious Juno persuades Jupiter to give her the heifer, whom she imprisons under the watch of Argus, whose head 'was set with a hundred eyes, which took their rest in sleep two at a time in turn, while the others watched and remained on guard'. Jupiter sends Mercury to kill Argus and Io is freed.
Here, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout shows Mercury presenting the head of Argus to Juno, with Jupiter seated on the clouds above. This composition deviates from Ovid's original text, in which Jupiter is presented with the slain head. Instead, van den Eeckhout combines this episode with a later moment in the narrative, when Juno uses the many eyes of Argus to decorate her peacock's feathers.
This is one of three in a series of works by Gerbrand van den Eeckhout depicting episodes from the life of Io. The other two paintings, Juno Discovers Jupiter with Io and Mercury and Argus, are both in private collections. The story was a popular subject among Rembrandt's many pupils, painted by Carel Fabritius, Govaert Flinck and Ferdinand Bol, among others.