Attributed to Wolfgang Heimbach (Ovelgönne circa 1615 - after 1678). A young girl wearing a turban and holding a candle

oil on canvas, in a painted oval. 77.2 by 61.8 cm.; 30 3/8 by 24 3/8 in. Estimate 20,000—30,000 GBP - Lot sold 73,250 GBP

PROVENANCE: Anonymous sale, Milan, Christie's, 29 November 2006, lot 20, where acquired by the present owner.

EXHIBITED: London, Robilant and Voena, Dutch and Flemish Caravaggesque Paintings from the Koelliker Collection, 28 November - 19 December 2007, cat. no. 10, pp. 36-7.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: C. Wright in French, Dutch and Flemish Caravaggesque Paintings from the Koelliker Collection, London 2007, p. 36, cat. no. 10, reproduced p. 37.

NOTE: Wolfgang Heimbach was a mute painter who was sent to train in the Netherlands and there came under the influence of Dutch genre painters such as Dirck Hals and Pieter Codde. In around 1640, Heimbach travelled southwards to Italy where he remained until 1651. The present painting probably dates from the artist's time in Italy, during which period he began to achieve a dramatic impact with chiaroscuro in his paintings.

Christopher Wright (see Literature) has endorsed the attribution to Heimbach and has compared the present work to other night scenes by the artist, in which single figures shield the flame of their lamps with their hand, casting a distinctive shadow upwards onto their faces; see, in particular, the Young Girl with an Oil Lamp and the Young Man with an Oil Lamp, both in the Galleria Doria-Pamphili in Rome.¹

1. See B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, vol. I, Turin 1989, p. 121, reproduced vol. III, pls. 1609 & 1610.

Sotheby's. Old Master Paintings. 04 Dec 08. London courtesy Sotheby's. www.sothebys.com