Franks Forage No 18. Paul de Vos
You have all had a go at ‘spot the difference’ puzzles at some time or other; well, here’s one for you! (Ignore the difference in colour; the paintings above were taken under different lighting conditions and different palettes used.) The title of the painting according to the NT Collections database is ‘Barnyard Scene, with Cock attacking a Turkey, to defend a Hen and Chicks’. The illustration on the left is of a painting signed by Paul de Vos in the National Museum in Warsaw acquired in 1945. That on the right is a replica that hangs in the Dining Room at Charlecote. There are other known variants of this painting. Paul de Vos is not known to execute copies of his own work but the Charlecote one was likely to have been produced by others in his workshop. The Charlecote painting
was bought in 1822 and thought to be by Hondecoeter but later suggestions
were that Pieter Casteels was the artist and the present Dining Room
folder states this; however, expert opinion was that it appeared inferior
to Casteel’s workmanship. Paul de Vos, pictured right, was born in Hulst, near Antwerp in 1591-1592. and died in Antwerp in June 1678. With his brothers Cornelius and Jan, he studied with a lesser known painter, David Remeeus. He specialised in hunting and larder scenes and was heavily influenced by Franz Snyders who was a master of this type of work (see forage No. 5). De Vos’ sister Margaretha married Snyders. Like Snyders, de Vos collaborated with other artists of the period such as Rubens, Willeboirts and van Dyck, utilising his skills in painting animals in their works. Unfortunately, the positioning of the Charlecote painting in the Dining Room is such that it cannot easily be seen from the passage through from the Great Hall to the Library but the above illustration shows it quite well.. Frank would welcome comments and any additional information you may have on ‘Frank’s Forages’. Contact him by email on n.splurge@btinternet.com You can also leave comments in the Tuesday Day Leader’s pigeon hole.
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