Workshop of Artus Wolffort (Antwerp, 1581 – 1641) - Saint James the

Descriptio Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 117 x 96 cm each. An important group belonging to the celebrated apostolic series developed in the circle of Artus Wolffort in Antwerp during the first decades of the 17th century. The paintings depict Saint James the Greater, Saint Thaddeus, and Saint Bartholomew, identified by Latin inscriptions located on trompe-l’œil cartouches at the bottom, where they appear associated with different articles of the Apostles’ Creed, following the Flemish iconographic tradition inspired by late Mannerist engraved models and widely disseminated in Flanders at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. The compositions show a strong Caravaggesque influence in the use of light and the monumentality of the figures, characteristics typical of the artistic milieu of Antwerp in the time of Rubens and Jordaens. Saint James the Greater appears in pilgrim’s garb with the traditional symbols of St. James; Saint Thaddeus is depicted absorbed in reading the Scriptures in a somber landscape; While Saint Bartholomew appears in a meditative and penitent pose, intensely illuminated against a dark background of great drama, the series demonstrates the predominant involvement of Artus Wolffort’s workshop, while maintaining the high technical and compositional quality of the original models conceived by the master. This group forms part of the well-known series of apostles produced by Wolffort and his workshop, studied by specialists such as Hans Vlieghe and Julius S. Held, who highlighted the importance of these compositions within Flemish devotional art of the early Baroque. The frontal arrangement of the figures, the naturalism of the faces, the careful representation of books and attributes, as well as the refined use of chiaroscuro, reflect the assimilation of Italian influences within Flemish religious painting of the early 17th century. Provenance: important European private collection.

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