Certificate Dr. Klaus Ertz, Lingen, May 2021.

Note: The little that we know about the painter Philippe Brueghel can be briefly summarized. He was baptized on 24 February 1635 in Antwerp as the son of Jan Brueghel the Younger and thus descended from the famous Flemish dynasty of artists founded by Pieter Brueghel in the 16th century. In 1655, the 20 year old was accepted as a member of the Antwerp painters' guild and, in accordance with the rules of this guild, was allowed to sign his works from then on. In 1657 he travelled to Paris and entered the service of his uncle Jean Valdor - a well-known engraver and art dealer at the time. From 1662 onwards, he can be traced in Antwerp as a painter. After that, his traces are lost.

Compared to his older brother Abraham, who moved to Italy at the age of 18 and had an extremely productive and successful career there, very few paintings by Philippe are known. All the more important, according to Dr. Klaus Ertz, is the present painting with its unmistakable signature. Only two other signed works by this Brueghel scion are known: "The Fall of Phaeton", oil on canvas 60 x 83.2 cm, in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and a "Still Life with Fish and Fruit", oil on canvas 88.5 x 115 cm, which was auctioned at Sotheby's London 12 December 1984, lot 84. 

Kunsthaus Lempertz KG. From Antiquity to Art Nouveau - The Bernard De Leye Collection, Köln, 15 July 2021