Peter Paul Rubens

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Peter Paul Rubens

1577-1640

The Adoration of the Magi: Matthew 2:1-11

ca. 1612-1613

Pen and brown ink and wash, over black chalk, outlines incised with stylus on laid paper .

11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (292 x 191 mm)

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

I, 230

Notes:

Formerly attributed to School of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).
Rubens was a prolific designer of book illustrations and title pages, mostly for the famous Plantin-Moretus Press in Antwerp. This is his design for the Adoration of the Magi in the luxury 1613 folio edition of the Missale Romanum. The print, which was engraved in reverse by Theodoor Galle, was reused in the 1614 Breviarium Romanum (PML 78174). Anticipating the reverse direction of the print, Rubens depicted the Christ Child reaching out to Caspar with his left hand. In the 1613 Missale, Galle faithfully included every detail of Rubens's carefully executed design, including the head of a camel above the onlooker's plumed hat in the background, which is barely discernible in the drawing. In the 1614 Breviarium, however, Galle removed the camel as a result of Rubens's corrections. -- Exhibition Label, from "Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens"

Inscription:

Numbered on verso by Johann Goll van Franckenstein the Elder, in brown ink, "N 972".
Watermark: Eagle with crozier over three balls (cf. Briquet 1367-68).

Provenance:

Possibly Samuel van Huls, former burgomaster of The Hague; his sale, The Hague, Swart, 14 May 1736, Album L, p. 17, lot 524 ("Pierre Paul Rubens, L'Adoration des Rois & un auture"); Jonkheer Johann Goll van Franckenstein the Elder (1722-1785; his "N. 972 in brown ink on verso; Lugt 2987); Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Amsterdam; his sale, Amsterdam, Van der Schley ... Roos 3 March and days following, 1800, Album X, lot I (to De Vos for Fl. 15); Jacob de Vos (1735-1833; no mark; see Lugt 1450); Jonkheer Pieter Hendrik Goll van Franckenstein (1787-1832); his sale, Amsterdam, De Vries ... Roos, I July 1833, Album Q, lot 8 (to Woodburn with lot 7 for Fl. 50); Samuel Woodburn (no mark; see Lugt 2584); Sir John Charles Robinson (traces of half-obliterated initials at lower left; Lugt 1433); Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.

Watermark:

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Associated names:

Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577-1640, School of, Formerly attributed to.
Huls, Samuel van, 1655-1734, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, J. (Johann), 1722-1785, former owner.
Ploos van Amstel, Cornelis, 1726-1798, former owner.
Vos, Jacob de, 1735-1833, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, Pieter Hendrik, 1787-1832, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853 former owner.
Robinson, John Charles, Sir, 1824-1913, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.

Bibliography:

Tuinen, Ilona van. Power and Grace : Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens. New York : Morgan Library & Museum, 2018, no. 3 (repr.)
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 230.
Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 141-142, no. 305, repr.

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