Artus Wolfaerts (1581-1641) - Study Of A Head

Artus WOLFAERTS (1581-1641)
Study of a head

Oil on paper, transferred on panel
39,5 x 29 cm

Provenance
Private collection, France

Firstly thought to be from Rubens’s Studio, our study of a head is in fact a rare instance of an oil sketch by Artus Wolffort. Parallels to such type of old man can be found in Wolffort’s oldest king in his adoration to the Magi in the museums of Antwerp and Karlsruhe. The treatment of the beard seems also to be in the Wolffort’s manner. We are grateful to Dr Joost Vander Auwera, honorary senior curator at the royal museum of Fine Arts of Belgium for having suggested and confirmed the attribution in a communication based on photography, early 2022