(Antwerp 1527 – before 1581)
Preparing for the bridal bed,
oil on panel, 27 x 38 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, France

We are grateful to Klaus Ertz for confirming the authenticity of the present painting. A written certificate (August 2017) is available. Ertz dates the picture to the late 1570s.

Ertz writes about the present painting: “The present picture can be described as being in good condition. The colours give a brilliant and fresh impression. They have survived in their original state, which holds particularly true for the figures. For such themes as the Blessing of the Bridal Bed or Putting the Bride to Bed, which can be found above all in the oeuvre of Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Marten van Cleve provided inspiration with his own pictorial inventions for numerous followers throughout the seventeenth century. For the artist, this rather intimate episode concluding the wedding day with its exhilarating festivities was a welcome opportunity for derision: while the groom can be seen on the left sitting at the table sleeping, the bride is being ‘prepared for the night’. Even today the wedding night continues to be in the centre of attention.”

A comparable work, entitled The Blessing of the Bridal Bed, was sold at Christie’s, Amsterdam, on 20 November 2013, as lot 74 (€ 91,500).