Lot 25: Studio of Peter van Lint , Antwerp 1609 - 1690 Christ healing the sick at Bethesda oil on canvas

oil on canvas

measurements note 114.8 by 172.7 cm.

Anonymous sale, Paris, Drouot Richelieu, 13 October 1993, lot 9.

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
In 1632, portraitist and painter of religious and allegorical subjects, Peter van Lint became a master in the Antwerp guild of St. Luke. He went to Italy shortly afterwards, where he was commissioned to paint portraits, religious paintings and murals for numerous churches in Rome. Upon his return in 1640, he opened an important studio in Antwerp, which attracted at least seventeen recorded pupils, including Godfried Maes (1649 - 1700).

At least three other slightly different versions of this composition are known. A smaller, signed version on panel is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. GG 1691). Another version, signed and dated 1642, is in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels (inv. no. 3691), while another unsigned version is in a private collection in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although the authentic execution by Van Lint is not certain, some aspects of the present work, such as the well executed face of Christ, suggest that this is a studio variant of high quality.