Stolen Art DealerOil painting by Jacob Jordaens: the nearly naked Odysseus kneels before the richly dressed Nausicaa as a handmaiden flees, a servant wrings out laundry and a gilded carriage waits behind.
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Catalogue No. 1799 · Christie's · London
The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa
About $4.9 million in today’s money: 56 years of the typical US household’s income. Source
- Artist
- Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593–1678)
- Title
- The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa
- Date
- 17th c.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 117.5 x 194 cm (46 1/4 x 76 3/8 in.), including a 38 cm (15 in.) original extension on the left
Jacob Jordaens, the Flemish painter (1593–1678), painted The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa in oil on canvas. The work measures 117.5 by 194 centimetres (46 1/4 by 76 3/8 inches), a size that includes a 38 centimetre (15 inch) extension at the left which Christie's describes as original.
Odysseus kneels, naked except for a covering of leaves, before the richly dressed Nausicaa. An ornate gilded carriage waits behind her, a servant wrings out wet laundry, and a handmaiden runs away in fear. Christie's links the picture to Jordaens's designs for a tapestry cycle on the story of Odysseus. The date of the painting is not confirmed.
It was sold at Christie's London on 4 December 2012, as lot 18 of the Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, from the property of a family trust. The estimate was £500,000–800,000. The price realised was £2,057,250, which includes the buyer's premium, or about $3.3 million at the time. Christie's said the price set a world auction record for Jordaens.
Christie's says the painting was probably bought before 1843 by William Burn Callander for Prestonhall in Midlothian, Scotland. A valuation of the Prestonhall pictures made in 1865 lists it, and it then passed by descent.
The sale
- Auction house
- Christie's, London
- Date
- 4 December 2012
- Lot
- 18
- Estimate
- £500,000–800,000
- Sold for
- $3.3 million (including buyer’s premium) · £2,057,250
- Record
- Christie's said the price set a world auction record for Jordaens. (as of December 2012)
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Provenance
before 1843
Probably purchased by William Burn Callander (1792-1864), Prestonhall, Midlothian, Scotland, where recorded in an inventory post 1843 Reported
1865
Recorded by W.B. Johnstone, Valuation of the Pictures of Preston Hall, 28 December 1865, no. 49, and by descent
2012-12-04
Sold at Christie's London, Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, lot 18 (The Property of a Family Trust)
Sources
- Christie's, lot 18, Jacob Jordaens, The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa
- Christie's, Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, 4 December 2012 (sale listing with price realised)
- Christie's, Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, sale overview
- The Art Newspaper, Old masters auctions: Raphael stars in mixed London sales (1 Jan 2013)
Prices include the buyer’s premium, in US dollars at the time of sale, unless marked as a hammer price.