The year it dates from was one of intense travel for Sorolla as he visited Granada, Córdoba, Sevilla, Cádiz, Valencia and Buenos Aires. He made his first trip to León with his family in the spring and he immediately fell in love with the architecture, creating several works of the city. This 13 x 9in (34 x 22.5cm) scene shows a partial view of the western façade of the cathedral and the next-door market.
On the death of the artist it passed to his youngest daughter, Elena Sorolla, and it now comes to auction from a private collection with an estimate of €35,000.
Georg Flegel (1566-1638) worked in Vienna before moving to Frankfurt in 1593, and is considered one of the first German still-life painters.
His style abandons the refinement of Netherlandish painting in favour of a naturalistic precision that shows the influence of nature studies by Dürer and Hans Hoffman, the miniatures of Joris Hoefnagel and the drawings of Jacques de Gheyn.
This still-life, which will be offered at Ansorena in Madrid on December 14, depicts objects of contrasting materials and colours with great realism and simplicity.
The 20 x 15.5in (50 x 39.5cm) oil on canvas is estimated at €58,000.
In its next auction series in Madrid on December 13, Subastas Segre will offer this example of an unusual entertainment that became popular around the mid-17th century.
The lot consists of a miniature painted in oil on copper embedded in an oval box, and comes with a set of 18 different costume details painted on mica plates and known as ‘talcs’. The talcs are the same size as the miniature, so the owner could mix and match them, building up layers to alter the costume on the portrait.
It is not known where miniatures such as these were manufactured, but they have been found throughout Europe (similar examples can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
This example comes from the Netherlands, dates from the second half of the 17th century and measures 3.5 x 3in (9 x 7.5cm). It is estimated at €6500.
