Jan Brueghel "the younger" and Frans Wouters

JAN BRUEGHEL "the Younger" (Brussels 1601-1678) and FRANS WOUTERS (Lier, 1612- Antwerp, 1659).
"The three graces with basket of flowers", ca. 1635.
Oil on copper.
Attached study by the gallery Soraya Cartategui.
It presents restorations in the pictorial surface.
It has a Dutch style frame of the twentieth century.
Measurements: 47 x 34,7 cm; 66 x 54 cm (frame).
According to the words of Sorita Cartategui's study "Our painting, made by Jan Brueghel II and Frans Wouters, is very similar to the prototype works of P.P. Rubens, using his large composition, the same subject matter and environment to create his personal variation. While there is an obvious derivation from Rubens' prototype, which in turn is clearly inspired by prints and engravings depicting a famous group of sculptures found in Italy and belonging to the important Piccolomini collection, there are also visual and stylistic differences at several points. The renewed interest in classical studies and the taste for refined allegories created a strong demand among collectors, who wished to enrich their collections with paintings that were captivating, pleasing and, if possible, associated with the most celebrated cultural events of the day.
The Three Graces, were the Roman goddesses of charm, beauty and creativity, each in charge of a different aspect of art (Splendor, Joy and Fullness). It is therefore not surprising that Frans Wouters, a pupil of Rubens, has provided here his personal interpretation of the model for which his master was famous, or that Jan Brueghel has infused all his skill in interpreting the landscape and the large floral basket it holds. The Three Graces. Thanks to the natural sheen of copper, it makes the details gleam with tiny, brilliant touches, making the "Brueghel style" famous throughout Europe for its brilliant color, imaginative grain and refined surface quality that alone distinguishes the Flemish school from all others.
Klaus Ertz, who had the opportunity to study this unpublished painting in person, saw the work as clearly related to the figurative prototype created by Rubens."
Jan Brueghel the Younger was a Flemish painter who specialized in still life and flower painting, although he also worked in landscape, mythological, allegorical and biblical scenes. He was an independent artist of great talent. The eldest son of Jan Brueghel de Velours, and grandson of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, he probably trained in his father's workshop, and it was also his father who encouraged him to travel to Milan in 1622, to enter the service of Cardinal Federico Borromeo. From Milan he traveled to Malta and Sicily and in 1625, after receiving the news of his father's death, he returned to Antwerp to take charge of his workshop. That same year he is registered as a master in the Guild of Painters of St. Luke. During these years he sold the paintings left by his father, and successfully completed those he had left unfinished. He also produced a number of small format paintings following his father's style, repeating his father's still lifes, flower garlands, landscapes and allegories. However, he did not do so as a mere copyist, but incorporated novelties and gave his work a personal accent. Among his most prominent patrons were the French court, which commissioned a "Cycle of Adam" (1630-31), and the Austrian court, for which he worked in 1651, after which he returned to Antwerp in 1657, where he lived until his death. He is currently represented only in a few private collections and in prominent institutions (in the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Metropolitan in New York, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna and other museums around the world).