oil on oak panel, with an unidentified collector's red wax seal on the reverse This small panel reproduces a large altarpiece painted by Rubens between 1630–35. The original painting was commissioned by Felipa Mendes Borges, wife of the Antwerp diamond dealer, Simon Dias, for the southern aisle of the Church of the Discalced Carmelites in Antwerp. It now hangs in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (inv. no. 306).1 Scenes from the Life of the Virgin derive from apocryphal gospels, and were hugely popular devotional images. Rubens depicts Mary sitting next to her mother, Saint Anne, reading. Her father, Joachim, surveys the pair from behind. The Virgin’s childhood was spent in the temple, where she was distinguished through her excellent character, piety, and remarkable knowledge of Scripture – which she is shown to be studying in this scene. The two cherubs descending with a crown of roses are coming to mark her out as the chosen mother of God’s son. Rubens' painting was originally paired with 'Saint Teresa of Ávila Interceding for Souls in Purgatory', which is today also in the museum in Antwerp (inv. no. 299).2 1 //collectie.kmska.be/#/query/d029a5d3-2f90-4b3e-8875-d851cffcad2c2 //collectie.kmska.be/#/query/5d30863c-db2c-4d24-9894-c7a5c4f02633

All paintings available to view at the Sotheby’s Greenford Park warehouse, 5 - 7 and 10 – 13 September (10 - 4pm), by appointment. The panel is uncradled, flat and stable. The paint surface is relatively dirty and the varnish slightly discoloured. There are visible retouchings in the figures and sky, centre and upper centre, and to an old damage, upper right. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals these, as well as pinprick retouchings, scattered in the Virgin's dress, the sky and the figure of Joachim.
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