Lot 1025 | Allegory of the Month February

ANTWERP SCHOOL
Title: Allegory of the Month February.
Date: Around 1620.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 131 x 180cm.
Provenance:
Probably private ownership England (until 1800 circa);
Private ownership, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (1808-1974);
Private ownership, Germany (since 1974).

According to family tradition, a cycle of twelve paintings with allegories of the twelve months came to the Palatinate from England at the beginning of the 19th century. The group was attributed at that time to the Dutch painter and engraver Henrick Goltzius.
Shortly thereafter, the collection was divided into two parts, each consisting of six paintings. The first group went to a private collection in Cologne, the second to the country to a noble family, which owned it since 1808.
In the 20th century, the second group of six paintings was fragmented; in 1974, the present work with the allegory of the month of February (recognizable by the zodiac sign of Pisces painted in the sky) was acquired by the present owners.