The versatile artist Cornelis Saftleven painted about a dozen cattle markets, the earliest of which, dated to 1659 and depicting the ruins of Castle Honingen, was very recently acquired by the Rotterdam Museum. The present painting is another particularly fine example in which the artist demonstrates his supreme abilities at rendering individual animals, integrating them into a compelling composition and thus cleverly drawing the observer into the narrative. Both the milkmaid and cow in the centre of the composition appear similarly in two other pictures by the artist; the first, painted in 1660, found in the Mauritshuis, The Hague, the other, held in a private collection (W. Schulz, op. cit., no. 576). These possibly derive from an unknown drawing as pointed out by Wolfgang Schulz (op. cit.).
Cornelis Saftleven stands out for his remarkable resourcefulness as an artist at a time in which the majority of Dutch painters specialized in a singular genre of painting. Besides cattle markets and animal studies his oeuvre consists of peasant scenes, guard-rooms, rural interiors, portraits and Biblical and mythological subjects.
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A cattle market on the outskirts of a walled town, with figures and animals crossing a bridgeCORNELIS SAFTLEVEN (GORINCHEM 1607-1681 ROTTERDAM)Estimate: EUR 30,000 - 50,000
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Condition report
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The panel consists of two sheets of wood, joined horizontally. It is bevelled along all four edges and cradled. In the centre two horizontal inner cracks are visible: one of c. 35 cm. running from the left edge and one of c 38 cm. running from the right edge into the composition. The matt varnish has discoloured and is opaque.
In natural light no obvious retouching or damages can be seen. The sky is somewhat abraded and the pigments of the water have discoloured and are a bit worn. The darker pigments have darkened somewhat with time. Otherwise the original pigments appear nicely preserved. The virtuoso brushwork and details are still lovely intact with thick impasto in the scene in the foreground.
Inspection under UV light confirms retouching to the two inner cracks, in addition to scattered retouching throughout the sky, some minor retouching to the architecture to the right, retouching to the woodgrain locally in the water and some minor strengthening to the staffage on the bridge.
In a modern frame, measuring 76 x 101 cm.
For further enquiries please contact Manja Rottink of the Old Master Paintings Department at mrottink@christies.com
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Lot 64Sale 21351
A cattle market on the outskirts of a walled town, with figures and animals crossing a bridgeCORNELIS SAFTLEVEN (GORINCHEM 1607-1681 ROTTERDAM)Estimate: EUR 30,000 - 50,000
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