ZURICH.- 'The Offering to Ceres', a striking large-format painting in the manner of Caravaggio, will be featured in the Old Master Paintings auction on 23 September at Koller. The artist, Dirck van Baburen, was part of a contingent of early 17th-century Dutch artists who made a pilgrimage to Rome to view Caravaggio's works, and brought the master's unique style back to their native Holland, where they would influence a generation of artists including Rembrandt and Vermeer (lot 3029, CHF 500 000/800 000). From the same period, a painting by Denijs van Alsloot and workshop depicts a grand feast organised for the Archduke Albrecht VII of Austria and Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain (lot 3050, CHF 150 000/250 000). Two particularly attractive winter scenes will be offered in the 23 September auction, a roundel by Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne (lot 3020, CHF 300 000/400 000), and a view of a town with a frozen river by Joos de Momper the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Younger (lot 3026, CHF 150 000/200 000). Angelica Kauffmann is represented by an unusual self-portrait depicting her with her artist's materials (lot 3071, CHF 30 000/50 000), and an allegorical scene, 'Dido at the stake' (lot 3074, CHF 70 000/90 000). Kauffmann enjoyed an exceptionally rewarding, independent career at a time when women artists faced significant hurdles to success.

Among the 19th Century Paintings, three works by Eugène Boudin will be presented, including a classic scene of the port of Le Havre with tall sailing ships (lot 3208, CHF 120 000/160 000). A dramatic landscape with figures before an approaching storm by Barend Cornelis Koekkoek is expected to fetch between CHF 50 000 and 70 000 (lot 3235). One of the most celebrated Scandinavian realist landscape painters, Peder Mørk Mønsted, created the 1907 river landscape in the sale (lot 3222, CHF 40 000/60 000), as well as a landscape from Germany, where he was particularly appreciated during his lifetime (lot 3240, CHF 18 000/25 000).

The Books & Autographs auction on 21 September features the greatest work by artist and naturalist Maria Sybilla Merian on the insects and fauna of Surinam (lot 207, CHF 120 000/160 000). In order to produce this richly illustrated volume, from 1699 to 1701 Merian undertook a long and hazardous journey to the Dutch colony, accompanied only by her daughter. Among the highlights of the Decorative Arts auction on 22 September are a Louis XV lacquer commode in the manner of Jacques Dubois (lot 1135, CHF 60 000/100 000), and a very rare Meissen porcelain Bantam rooster teapot, 1730 (lot 1059, CHF 26 000/30 000).