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Provenance

(Van Diemen Gallery, Berlin).[1] Acquired 1926 in Berlin by Mendel Mayer Rössler [1879-1951];[2] (Van Diemen-Lilienfeld Galleries, New York); sold 1950 Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1952 by exchange to NGA.

Exhibition History

1930
Exposition d'Art flamand ancien, Antwerp, 1930, no. 53, as Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
1998
A Collector's Cabinet, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 19.
2003
Die Flämische Landschaft 1520-1700, Kulturstiftung Ruhr, Villa Hügel, Essen; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2003-2004, no. 31, repro.

Technical Summary

The transfer to plywood took place before 1936. According to Gluck the original support was poplar. Sometime shortly after 1932 several figures in the foreground, which seem to have been later additions, were removed.[1] It is likely that the painting was transferred at the same time. There are extensive, evenly scattered insect exit holes in the paint and ground layers and no sign in either of horizontal join lines. Poplar is more susceptible to insect damage and worm tunneling than oak and is more likely to exist as a single piece of wood the size of this painting. There are scattered losses of varying sizes throughout, but the actual extent of abrasion is difficult to gauge under the thick varnish. There are repainted losses in the upper and lower left corners and along the right and bottom edges. Extensive later glazes are found in the sky at the upper left and to a lesser extent in the upper right and in the foreground landscape. Underdrawing in what appears to be brown paint is visible with the naked eye. The only underdrawing revealed by infrared reflectography is in the mountain at the far right.

[1] Glück 1936, no. 2, gives the support as plywood and cites the owner's statement that the painting was originally on poplar. The reproduction shows the picture with the extra figures removed. Michel 1932,130, fig. 3, reproduces the painting with the figures present.

Bibliography

1931
Michel, Edouard. Bruegel. Paris, 1931: 75, pl. 46.
1932
Glück, Gustav. Bruegels Gemälde. Vienna (1937 ed.): 93, no. 81.
1932
Michel, Edouard. "Hypothèses sur quelques peintures flamandes à propos de Bruegel le Vieux." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 7 (1932): 132, fig. 3.
1935
De Tolnay, Charles. Pierre Bruegel l'Ancien. Brussels, 1935: 97, no. 56.
1936
Glück, Gustav. Das Bruegel Buch. Vienna, 1936: no. 2, repro. 10, 20.
1938
Wetering, Cornelis van de. Die Entwicklung der niederländischen Landschaftsmalerei vom Anfang des 16. Jahrhunderts bis zur Jahrhundertmitte. Berlin, 1938: 79, pl. 5 (diagram).
1951
Glück, Gustav. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. London, 1951: 9, 17, no. 2, repro. (also Vienna, 1951).
1951
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 202, no. 89, repro., as Landscape with the Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria by Pieter Bruegel, the Elder.
1959
Gudlaugsson, S. J. "Het Errera-schetsboek en Lucas van Valckenborch." Oud Holland 74 (1959): 129.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 290, repro., as by Pieter Bruegel, the Elder.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 21, as by Pieter Bruegel, the Elder.
1967
Bianconi, Piero. The Complete Paintings of Bruegel. New York, 1967: 87, no. 2, repro. 88.
1968
Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 113.
1968
Klein, H. Arthur, and Mina Klein. Peter Bruegel the Elder. Artist of Abundance. New York, 1968: 184.
1968
Koch, Robert A. Joachim Patinir. Princeton, 1968: 9.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 14, repro., as by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
1969
Franz, Heinrich Gerhard. Niederländische Landschaftsmalerei im Zeitalter des Manierismus. 2 vols. Graz, 1969: 2: fig. 189.
1971
Wied, Alexander. "Lucas van Valckenborch." Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen des allerhöchsten Kaiserhauses (Jahrbuch der kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien) 31 (1971): 137.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue (National Gallery of Art). Washington, 1975: 50-51, repro., as by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: no. 192, repro.
1977
Eisler, Colin. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools Excluding Italian. Oxford, 1977: 91-93, fig. 90, text fig. 16, as Landscape with Scenes from the Life of St. Catherine of Alexandria.
1980
Wied, Alexander. Bruegel. Translated by Anthony Lloyd. London, 1980: 12, fig. 13.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 168, no. 186, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 32, repro.
1986
Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 3-6, repro. 2.
2002
Muller, Elke and Helen Schretlen. BetwistBezit: De Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit en de teruggave van roofkunst na 1945. Zwolle, 2002: 105, 171, fig. 63, 188-191, 219.

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