painting (oil): ["Antwerp Cathedral"]

This is the interior of a Gothic church with a quadripartite vault and a blue and cream field pavement. A door open at the left frames two men just outside the church. Above the pointed arch at the left is a cloak and below, a beggar approaches two ladies entering the nave, one holding a baby. In the foreground a man and woman with a child, all richly dressed and evidently wealthy, walk towards us. A beggar walks alongside them, holding out his hat. Just behind them are three smartly dressed men with a greyhound. Two further beggars can be seen seated against columns on the left side of the composition. At the right in the foreground an old man on crutches passes a side chapel in which, with lighted candles, a priest says mass attended by an altar boy and a small congregation. The painting above the altar shows the Adoration of the Magi and above this is a statue of the Madonna and Child. Further along the nave on the left, another priest can be seen saying mass for a larger congregation. Virag 14/12/2004, 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 dating of NCM 1904-115 is based on comparison with other church interiors by Peter Neeffs the elder in the collection of the National Gallery of Prague. (no. 229, "Interior of a Gothic Church", dated 1633 [with figures by Frans Francken II] and no. 230, "Interior of an Antwerp Cathedral", dated 1635 [with figures by Frans Francken II or III]. Ref. Lubomir Slavicek, "Catalogue of the Flemish Paintings of the 17th and 18th Centuries", National Gallery of Prague, 2000. On the front: Two strips measuring approx. 1cm wide have been added to the top and bottom of the panel. These additions are presumably contemporary with original production. On the reverse: 1. NCM accession number 2. Scored into the back of the panel are some initials: F [D] B (The "D" (?) is very faint) (NB. Handwritten notes in the Artist File, probably Cassidy, corroborate these letters as "F DB") The added strips to the top and bottom of panel are borne out on the reverse. There is a slightly scorched, blistered condition of the wood near the lower and upper edges and which can also be seen elsewhere on the panel. This corrosion may have been caused by glue or some other chemical. 3. Handwritten notes in Artist File, probably Cassidy, refer to a label which is now missing: "part… prix du co… … est de 20…" (or 30?)" This would seem to suggest that the work has been involved in a sale in France or Belgium at some time in its history. Virag 14/12/2004, Collection of Richard Godson Millns.