The work, part of the Vischer-Passavant Collection in Basel till 1962 and consigned by a Hessen collector, was inspired by a 1559 drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Elder which is now in the Boymans van Beunigen Museum in Rotterdam.
Brueghel the Elder portrayed the central figure of Charity as a young woman with a pelican on her head; Brueghel the Younger transformed her into an old woman in colourful rags, leaning on a staff.
The other sale highlight was a 1520s triptych by the Master of the Antwerp Adoration, 2ft 3in (69cm) high, with a central panel 21in (53cm) wide showing the Holy Family with two angel musicians, and side panels 9in (23cm) across. This was consigned by a Rhineland collector and sold on estimate for €125,000 (£83,300).
A School of Rembrandt Gelehrter mit Buch (Scholar with Book), 19 x 15in (49 x 37cm), dated 1632, went unsold against an estimate of €150,000.
The sale’s leading objet d’art was an elegant pair of early 18th century silver candlesticks by Berlin’s Johann Georg Fournier II, 2ft (60cm) high, that brought a triple-estimate €8500 (£5665).
The quality of Mercy merits £300,000 bid
THE Seven Works of Mercy by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, painted on a panel measuring 17 x 22in (42 x 56cm), raised €450,000 (£300,000) at the sale held by Van Ham (22% buyer’s premium) in Cologne on April 3. It had been estimated at €260,000.
