A diptych: left wing: Portrait of Leonard (Lenaert) van Casembroot (1495-1558), Burgomaster of Bruges, half-length, in a black coat and a black hat, holding a letter in his right hand, insribed 'Ali quoando Capite'; right wing: Portrait of (possibly) Godelieve Brest (1510-1570), half-length, in a black dress and a white cap, holding a prayer book in her hands, inscribed 'et agite'

The identification of the male sitter is possibly by a later print depicting Leonard van Casembroot in a similar position and comparable age in an oval frame which carries the same inscription "ALIQUANTO SAPITE". The sitters' dates on the original frames of the present lot do not appear to be original and probably alternated at a later stage. The female sitter has erroneously been identified as Wilhelmina van Bronckhorst (1526-1601), who was the stepdaughter of Leonard van Casembroot. Given the date 1547, which appears on both frames, and the tradition of representing couples as a pair, the sitter is possibly Godelieve Brest, the second wife of Leonard, who he married in 1538. Leonard van Casembroot and his family belonged to the ruling dynasties of Bruges. He was an exceedingly wealthy merchant who had received a humanist education and corresponded with Erasmus of Rotterdam, as well as other great minds of his time. In this portrait he carries a document bearing the Latin inscription "Ali quando Capite", while his wife holds a book labeled "et Agite".
We are grateful to Till-Holger Borchert, Bruges, for his help in cataloguing the present lot (written communication, 6 October 2013). He attributes the double portrait to an anonymous master, who moved from the North to Bruges, where he was active in the mid-16th Century. The double portrait of Jan de Fevere, councilman in Bruges, and his wife Anna de Blanke in the Groeningemuseum, Bruges is painted by the same artist.