painting (oil): ["Peasants Fleeing"] aka ["Witchcraft"]

"May have been a section of a larger painting; subject relating to witchcraft. Unsigned." [Register] "It is painted in grisaille and appears, from the way the panel is cut, to be the left bottom corner of a larger picture. It has at some time been too thoroughly cleaned and part of the background has been wiped away. The subject awaits identification : a man, clutching a hurdy-gurdy, runs headlong pursued by frantic woman." [Annual Report 1961-1962 p.12] An overturned pitcher and a bowl can be seen on the ground in the bottom left corner. Above is a peasant woman on her hands and knees and to her left, a young man is running towards her with arms outstretched and cloak billowing out behind him. He carries a hurdy-gurdy on his belt, which would appear to identify him as some sort of street entertainer. Behind him an old man, accompanied by an agitated dog at his heels, raises his hands and shouts in a gesture of shock and terror. On the right, two further women are running wildly in the direction of the man with the hurdy-gurdy. The subject is obscure, other than that the panel seems to present a group of rustics fleeing before an unidentified threat. Virag 12/12/2004, Between 1984 and 1985, a research assistant, Dr. Brendan Cassidy, was employed by Nottingham Castle Museum to research and write a catalogue of the foreign oil paintings in their collection. The catalogue never materialised, but drafts and notes relating to Cassidy's research can be found in the Artist Files and in the Archive at the museum. All references to Cassidy relate to these documents. The attribution to Adrian Van de Venne was first suggested by Mr Gould, National Gallery, London in 1961. Gould also suggested the title of "Witchcraft". This attribution has since been confirmed by Dr. Annelies Plokker, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, The Hague (Letter dated 14 May 1985, to Cassidy). She compares it to a simliar work by Van de Venne in Schiedam, which bears the inscription, "That what makes the cripple walk" and is dated 1646. Plokker rejects the subject as relating to witchcraft and observes that the figures merely appear to be fleeing from something or someone. Notes in the Artist File for NCM 1961-318, written in an unknown hand and undated, suggest a title of "Fugitives". On the Front: The grain is visible through the thin layer of paint and runs in the horizontal position. The paint has been quite heavily retouched in the background, on the left leg of the central figure and the dress of the woman at the right. The outlines of the shouting man have been strengthened. The panel has been overcleaned. On the Reverse: The panel is probably part of a larger picture. Three of the edges are straight but the left edge is champfered, suggesting that the scene was cut from the left side of a larger panel. The panel is quite worn at the left edge and worm holes and tunnels have been exposed, which suggest that it has been pared down. 1. Fragment of a manuscript or some printed matter: "Storin…" 2. NCM accession number in yellow paint in the centre of the panel. 3. White sticky label at top of the frame, in blue biro: VENNE NOTTINGHAM 17" The panel was apparently cleaned by the owners prior to the purchase by the Castle Museum in 1961. A newspaper report documenting the museum's purchase of NCM 1961-318 states that: "The picture was found covered with the grime of centuries in the home of a Nottingham family and, when cleaned, it was sent to the Castle for identification". ("Mystery Picture for the Castle Art Gallery", "Nottingham Evening Post", 4 November, 1961, p.28) Virag 12/12/2004, Collection of Mrs Sybil Fisher.