Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 90-91.(Budapest, 1999)
NÉMETH, ISTVÁN: Musical Company
unanimously testify to the influence of contemporary Dutch genre painting, and specifically to that of the oeuvre of Anthonie Palamedesz. 39 In its intonation and some of its motifs one of Van der Lamen's paintings in Madrid 40 is quite close to the Budapest picture, and so is a work of his painted in 1639 at the Rob Smeets Gallery in Milan 41 But the closest correspondence to the painting at the Museum of Fine Arts is evinced by Christoph Jacobsz. van der Lamen's signed work at the Warsaw National Gallery, which shows essentially the same scene (fig. 88). 42 The Warsaw painting appears to possess more character and is a work of higher quality, but the differences may be accounted for by the ruinous condition of the painting in Budapest. In view of the above, the picture titled Company in a Room may be attributed with a high degree of probability to the Flemish artist Van der Lamen, or possibly to an unknown follower. Another, thus far unmentioned 17 lb-century Dutch genre painting at the Museum of Fine Arts presents similar problems. Until recently it had been catalogued as an authentic work by Jan Olis (ca. 1610-1676), a native of Gorinchem who was active in Dordrecht between 1632 and 1655 (fig. 89). The picture shows a party of eight, consisting of soldiers and courtesans, arrayed around a table covered by a tablecloth. The poorly furnished room is rather barren, save for an embellished fireplace on the left and a map on the wall in the rear. The men are smoking pipes and drinking; two of them lean over the table absorbed in a game of tric-trac, 43 while on the right we see a man playing the violin and behind him a woman lifting her wineglass high. The picture is painted in a prosaic manner and contains several awkward details; the modelling of the two female figures is especially perfunctory. The traditional attribution of this Merry Company is questionable in spite of the inscription on the edge of the mantelpiece reading "Jolis fecit 1644". Most of the known work by Jan Olis is characterized by a more fluid brushwork, more skilful modelling; and the mode of composition, the handling of light, and the style of the clothes worn by the actors in the scene would suggest an earlier dating than that given by the inscription. Although there are certain superficial resemblances to some early works by Jan Olis, we can in fact not find a single painting among the artist's authentic works that would serve as a close analogy to the Budapest picture. 44 The solution of the problem is made more difficult by the fact that much of Olis's oeuvre is still awaiting to be fully researched, and certain of his works have for long been attributed to others, such as 39 In this connection see: Larsen, E., Seventeenth Century Flemish Painting, Freren 1985, 314; Sutton, P. (ed.), The Age of Rubens, Boston (Museum of Fine Arts) 1993-94, 60; De Maere, J. - Wabbes, M., Illustrated Dictionary of llth-Century Flemish Painters 1-3. Brussels 1994, 1.250. 40 Museo del Prado, Madrid, Inv. no. 1555. See: Padrôn, M. D., Museo del Prado. Catälogo de Pinturas, Escucla Flamenca, Madrid 1975, 121. 41 De Macre-Wabbes, op. cit. (Note 39) 3, 786. 42 Oil on panel, 49,5 x 84 cm, signed ' L v Lamen f.", Inv. no. 129375. See: National Museum in Warsaw. Catalogue of Paintings, Foreign Schools, 1-2, Múzeum Narodowe w Warszawie 1969, 1,210, No. 614. 4 " Inv. no. 5 1 .785. See: Pigler, op. cit. (Note 6) 510. The game of tric-trac is a frequently seen motif in contemporary Dutch genre paintings; several pictures by Jan Olis feature players of this game. See, among others, works by the artist at the Brussels Museum (cat. 1949. No. 775). the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge (Inv. no. 405) or the Nârodni Galerie in Prague (Inv. no. O 12942). These pictures however differ considerably in style from the Budapest Merry Company. 44 The painting technique shows certain similarities to a 1629 picture of cardplayers signed Olis: auctioned at Fiévez, Brussels, 16 December 1929, No. 67. (Photo RKD)
