Lot 1065. Pierre Patel (1605 Chauny - Picardie - 1676 Paris), Landscape with the flight to Egypt. Oil on canvas, relined on cardboard. 51.5 x 68.5 cm. Signed and dated lower right: P + PATEL 1657. Estimate: € 120,000 - € 150,000. © Lempertz

Provenance: Auction Paris, 11.12.1780, Lot 141. - Acquired there by Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Le Brun. - Auction Lepke, Berlin, 11.12.1900, Lot 43. - For decades in a Munich private collection.

Literature: Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Pierre Patel, in: Natalie Coural: Les Patel - Pierre Patel (1605-1676) et ses fils - Les paysages de ruins à Paris au XVIIe siècle, Paris 2001, p.165-167, PP36, pp37 , PP38.

Note: For the last 118 years, the whereabouts of the painting we now have was unknown. Natalie Coural wrote and quoted in her patent raisonné Pierre Patels published in 2001 in "Les Patel - Pierre Patel (1605-1676) et ses fils - Les paysages de ruins à Paris au XVIIe siècle" concerning the landscape painting PP36: "[. ..] il existe à la Witt Library de Londres une photographie ancienne d'un tableau (sans indication de provenance), signé et daté P PATEL 1657, qui l'on peut presques certainement identifier avec ce tableau Cette toile est vraisemblablement celle qui était passée en vente le 11 décembre 1780 à Paris (vente Le Brun et autre marchands, cf pp. 391-392, vente no. 125, no. 141): "P. Patel 1657, un Paysage orné de ruins d'architecture. Sur le premier plan & dans la partie droite, l ' on the road from Vierge fuyant en Egypte; dans le côté gauche, l'on aperçoit and Pâtre gardant tris vaches & cing chèvres: plus loin sont trois petites figures [...]; le fon offer a grande étendue de pays, où l'on distingue un pont, acqueducs et des hautes montagnes. Ce Tableau offer la fraîcheur vaporeuse & la touche de Claude le Lorrain, auquel il pourrait servir de pendant. Il est du plus beau temps, que nous connaission de ce mâitre. Hauteur 19 pouces, largeur 24 pouces. "(Coural 2001, op. Cit., P. 165, pp36) la touche de Claude le Lorrain, auquel il pourrait servir de pendant. Il est du plus beau temps, que nous connaission de ce mâitre. Hauteur 19 pouces, largeur 24 pouces. "(Coural 2001, op. Cit., P. 165, pp36) la touche de Claude le Lorrain, auquel il pourrait servir de pendant. Il est du plus beau temps, que nous connaission de ce mâitre. Hauteur 19 pouces, largeur 24 pouces. "(Coural 2001, op. Cit., P. 165, pp36)

However, although such quirks often seem inappropriate, it should be noted in this particular case that not three cows and five goats are depicted on the plant, as Le Brun writes, but two cows and six goats. This can be seen on closer inspection not only on the original painting, but also in the photo from the Witt Library. It can be conclusively clarified that this is undoubtedly the work of Pierre Patel, described and illustrated in the catalog raisonné, whose provenance can thus be traced back to 1780.

Two further versions of the composition, one of unsigned and undated, the second signed and dated (Patel 1658), are now in Sheffield or in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours (Coural 2001, op. Cit., P 166, PP37 and PP38). Our painting is considered the first version. This can be determined by the dates, but also by the outstanding painterly quality of our work. The particularly fine brushwork of the architecture and the foliage, the soft evening light mood and the academic-compositional structure of the scenery within this ideal landscape are the epitome of Pierre Patel's imagery. Comparable works can be found in the Louvre and the National Gallery in London.

Lempertz. Auction 1108, Alte Kunst, 16.05.2018, 11:00, Cologne.