Saint Cecilia in ecstasy

Professor Daniele Benati has suggested an attribution to Jan van Dalen, who was active in Rome and probably also in Bologna, around 1631 (see A. Crispo, 'Il Maestro della morte di Didone alias Jan van Dalen. Un artista italianizzante nei Paesi Bassi del Seicento', Parma per l'arte, XXIV, 2018, pp. 257-283). In Italy, he trained in the Caravaggesque style, which he then fused with Northern painting traditions when he returned to Antwerp around 1632 to study in the workshop of Daniel de Middelaer. The present painting, perhaps completed during van Dalen's time in Italy, clearly borrows from the style of Italian Baroque painters, namely Guido Reni.

We are grateful to Professor Daniele Benati for his kind assistance cataloging this lot.