WHYTES
SINCE 1783
,
95
195
Attributed to
Pieter Pietersz. I Vromans,
(Flemish, c. 1577-1654)
CHRIST ENTERING JERUSALEM [PALM SUNDAY]
oil on canvas
indistinctly signed lower left “P: ...” (See Fig. 1)
37.25 by 48in. (94.62 by 121.92cm)
Provenance:
Private collection, Co. Kildare (since 1968);
Thence by descent
The exact date and place of birth of Pieter Pietersz.Vromans are not
known.We do know that he was the son of the painter Pieter Jansz.
Vromans, who moved from Flanders to Holland some time after the fall
of Antwerp in 1585.The family of Vromans comprised several painters
in Flanders and Delft, including Pieter’s brother Abraham, but no
paintings have been traced from them except Pieter. In 1635 he
became a member of the Guild of St. Luke at Delft. In 1650 he was
elected dean of the Guild. He was buried on 10 January 1654 in the Old
Church of Delft.
Vromans was probably a pupil of Leonaert Bramer (1596-1674) in view
of similarities of style and compositions. He specialised in historical and
Biblical subjects, and to a limited degree from Greek mythology. He
must have been a prolific painter as a large number of his paintings
appear in old inventories and sales. Nowadays only about twenty
paintings have been preserved with certainty, partly signed P. pr Pr.
Vromans. More research should
bring other works into light,
especially those which are
wrongly attributed to painters
with a similar style, like Bramer,
Jacob Willemsz. de Wet and
Adriaen Verdoel.
The present picture, dated
between 1635 and 1654, is typical of Vromans’ usual style and an
important example from his oeuvre, a major work because of the
vividly demonstrated versatility of his talents for colour, composition
and narration.The subject, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem (Matthew. 21: 1-
11, 14-16; Mark. 11:1-11; Luke. 19:28-40; John. 12:12-19), is a popular
subject in the art of the Low Countries in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Christ is riding on a colt (foal of a donkey), “on which no one has ever
yet sat” (Luke 19:30), among a multitude of people rejoicing and
praising the Lord.
Examples of Pieter Pietersz.Vromans work can be found in the
Museums of Aix-la-Chapelle, Göttingen, Münster, Kiev, and St.
Petersburg.
We are grateful to Drs. Jan Postma, Leiden,The Netherlands, for his
assistance in cataloguing this lot and endorsing the attribution based
on photographs.
For literature reference see
€
5,000-
€
7,000 (£4,270-£5,980 approx.)
Fig. 1 Detail of signature
