The Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria blessed by the Holy Virgin and child.

Drawing, black and red chalk, heightened with grey wash, 38 x 29,6 cm, grey laid paper with watermark (crowned Double C), unsigned (upper and lower right corners torn, two sm. tears in right edge, some creases at left edge).

A lively drawing of Ferdinand of Austria (1610-1641) receiving the military command over the armies of the Spanish Low Countries from the Holy Virgin and Christ, along with Sts. Peter and Paul. A battle scene with cavalry can be noticed in the background, perhaps a reference to the Battle of Nördlingen of which the Cardinal-Infante was military commander (during the Thirty Years' War). The drawing was probably a preparation for a larger canvas or print. Ferdinand was known as an art patron and commissioned various portraits from the Antwerp studio of Rubens and pupils related to it, such as Caspar de Crayer, Gerard Seghers and Anthony van Dyck. The present sheet is possibly by the Brussels painter Antoon Sallaert (1594-1650). The same composition is also present in a print by Pontius, after a design by Sallaert, depicting the King Philip IV and Ferdinand of Austria receiving the rosary from St. Thomas and the Holy Virgin (Hollstein XVII:37).
Prov. Christie's Sale 10.11.1999, lot 316.