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Combat between Carnival and Lent

Workshop of: Pieter Bruegel, the Elder (Netherlandish, about 1525–1569)

Medium/Technique Oil on panel
Dimensions 36.5 x 63.5 cm (14 3/8 x 25 in.)
Credit Line Seth K. Sweetser Fund, Abbott Lawrence Fund, Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow Fund, William Wilkins Warren Fund, and Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection
Accession Number49.82
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings

ProvenanceRev. Asgill Horatio Colvile (b. 1847 - d. 1909), Weston-super-Mare, England [see note 1]. February 28, 1946, sale, Robinson and Foster, London, lot 124 [see note 2], sold to Frank Sabin (dealer), London, possibly in joint ownership with David M. Koetser (dealer), London and New York [see note 3]; 1949, sold by Koetser to the MFA for $34,000. (Accession Date: March 10, 1949)

NOTES:
[1] A label with his name is on the verso of the panel.

[2] According to Hanns Swarzenski, "The Battle Between Carnival and Lent," MFA Bulletin 49, 2 (1951), p. 10, note 2, the painting belonged to Baron Auchterlonie and Col. A. A. Moller before being sold through Robinson and Foster in 1946. These details, however, have not been successfully verified. The painting was evidently sold with a false signature and date of 1579, which were removed when Frank Sabin had it cleaned.

[3] Art historian Max Friedländer provided an expertise for the painting in 1946, written on a photograph from a London studio, as well as an undated expertise on Koetser letterhead. W. R. Valentiner provided an expertise in January 1947. Koetser first offered the painting to the MFA in 1948, and said that Sabin was the co-owner. Whether Koetser was also a co-owner, or was simply the agent for the sale, is not certain.