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Le Paiement de la dîme
Details
PIETER BRUEGHEL LE JEUNE (BRUXELLES 1564-1638 ANVERS)
Le Paiement de la dîme
signé et daté 'P. BREVGHEL. 1619.' (en bas, vers la gauche)
huile sur panneau
52 x 81,5 cm (20 ½ x 32 1⁄16 in.)
Le Paiement de la dîme
signé et daté 'P. BREVGHEL. 1619.' (en bas, vers la gauche)
huile sur panneau
52 x 81,5 cm (20 ½ x 32 1⁄16 in.)
Provenance
[Peut-être] Cornelis Johannes Karel van Aalst (1866-1939), Hoevelaken (selon K. Ertz, 1988⁄2000, voir infra).
[Très probablement] vente anonyme, Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 18 mai 1981, lot 14 (selon K. Ertz, 1988⁄2000, voir infra).
Chez Leegenhoek, Paris, après 1981.
Collection particulière, France.
[Très probablement] vente anonyme, Sotheby Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 18 mai 1981, lot 14 (selon K. Ertz, 1988⁄2000, voir infra).
Chez Leegenhoek, Paris, après 1981.
Collection particulière, France.
Literature
[Peut-être] G. Marlier, Pierre Brueghel le Jeune, Bruxelles, 1969 (édition posthume mise au point et annotée par J. Folie), p. 438, sous le n°21.
K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere (1564-1637⁄38). Die Gemälde mit Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Lingen, 1988⁄2000, I, p. 504, n°E 503 (avec une provenance erronée, les dimensions du tableau inclus dans la vente van Marle organisée à La Haye en le 28 juin 1938 ne correspondant pas au présent tableau), reproduit en noir et blanc.
K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere (1564-1637⁄38). Die Gemälde mit Kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Lingen, 1988⁄2000, I, p. 504, n°E 503 (avec une provenance erronée, les dimensions du tableau inclus dans la vente van Marle organisée à La Haye en le 28 juin 1938 ne correspondant pas au présent tableau), reproduit en noir et blanc.
Further Details
PIETER BRUEGHEL THE YOUNGER (1564-1638), THE PAYMENT OF THE TITHES, OIL ON PANEL, SIGNED AND DATED (LOWER LEFT)
This composition by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638) is significant within the artist’s oeuvre. It is the only original scene by Pieter the Younger that does not derive from a composition created by his father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c.1525-1569). The catalogue raisonné records nearly twenty-five versions of this vivid depiction of the torments of justice. The earliest dated examples go back to 1615, and the latest to 1621 (K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere, Die Gemälde, Lingen, 1998⁄2000, I, pp. 501–522). The study specifies that only five versions were produced in 1619, with the possibility that confusion between two of them reduces the number to four versions dated to the year of the present painting.
In any case, this striking image enjoyed great success during the artist’s lifetime. Its interpretation, however, has given rise to various hypotheses. The many grimacing depictions of tax collectors initiated by Quentin Metsys (c.1466-1530) or Marinus van Reymerswaele (c.1490-1546) had already inspired numerous followers in Northern Europe, making it natural to see in our scene a representation of tax collectors demanding payment of the tithe from peasants.
The scene, conceived in two parts, contrasts officials absorbed in their undoubtedly complex documents with anxious peasants depositing animals and eggs as payment. The connection with tax collectors in Northern art thus seemed logical, but certain details have led to an entirely different interpretation. First, the French almanac on the right side of the composition suggests that these figures are lawyers rather than tax collectors, since jurists used French as a common language in the Netherlands. The payment in the form of animals and eggs also points to something other than the tithe, which more commonly involved cereals. Finally, various early sources describe this composition as a judicial scene rather than one related to taxation. An inventory of 1627 from the Wiael collection mentions a painting by Brueghel the Younger depicting a French jurist ('eenen franschen procureur') (D. de Vos, Stedelijke Musea Brugge. Catalogus Schilderijen 15de en 16de eeuw, Bruges, 1979, p. 95), and several satirical prints published in the seventeenth century show commoners offering baskets of eggs to lawyers with similar expectations (see Le Paysan sollicitant son procureur, fig. 1, engraving, Morgan Library, New York, inv. PML 145850.210). Klaus Ertz, author of the catalogue raisonné, supports this interpretation and classifies all these compositions under the title Der Bauernadvokat ('The Peasants’ Lawyer').
Two types of this composition by Brueghel can be distinguished. These differ in the background beneath the window: straw appears in versions before 1618, while later works use the luminous green velvet seen here. The clothing of the lawyers also undergoes a transformation, becoming darker in the later examples of the composition. Our painting corresponds to this second type, in which Brueghel emphasizes the gravity of the lawyers through the darker tones of their garments. The remarkably well-preserved condition of this version, which has retained fine glazes revealing a brilliant modelling, allows one to fully appreciate the specific originality of this compositional type as well as the expressive faces of the figures, characteristic of Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s art.
This composition by Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638) is significant within the artist’s oeuvre. It is the only original scene by Pieter the Younger that does not derive from a composition created by his father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c.1525-1569). The catalogue raisonné records nearly twenty-five versions of this vivid depiction of the torments of justice. The earliest dated examples go back to 1615, and the latest to 1621 (K. Ertz, Pieter Brueghel der Jüngere, Die Gemälde, Lingen, 1998⁄2000, I, pp. 501–522). The study specifies that only five versions were produced in 1619, with the possibility that confusion between two of them reduces the number to four versions dated to the year of the present painting.
In any case, this striking image enjoyed great success during the artist’s lifetime. Its interpretation, however, has given rise to various hypotheses. The many grimacing depictions of tax collectors initiated by Quentin Metsys (c.1466-1530) or Marinus van Reymerswaele (c.1490-1546) had already inspired numerous followers in Northern Europe, making it natural to see in our scene a representation of tax collectors demanding payment of the tithe from peasants.
The scene, conceived in two parts, contrasts officials absorbed in their undoubtedly complex documents with anxious peasants depositing animals and eggs as payment. The connection with tax collectors in Northern art thus seemed logical, but certain details have led to an entirely different interpretation. First, the French almanac on the right side of the composition suggests that these figures are lawyers rather than tax collectors, since jurists used French as a common language in the Netherlands. The payment in the form of animals and eggs also points to something other than the tithe, which more commonly involved cereals. Finally, various early sources describe this composition as a judicial scene rather than one related to taxation. An inventory of 1627 from the Wiael collection mentions a painting by Brueghel the Younger depicting a French jurist ('eenen franschen procureur') (D. de Vos, Stedelijke Musea Brugge. Catalogus Schilderijen 15de en 16de eeuw, Bruges, 1979, p. 95), and several satirical prints published in the seventeenth century show commoners offering baskets of eggs to lawyers with similar expectations (see Le Paysan sollicitant son procureur, fig. 1, engraving, Morgan Library, New York, inv. PML 145850.210). Klaus Ertz, author of the catalogue raisonné, supports this interpretation and classifies all these compositions under the title Der Bauernadvokat ('The Peasants’ Lawyer').
Two types of this composition by Brueghel can be distinguished. These differ in the background beneath the window: straw appears in versions before 1618, while later works use the luminous green velvet seen here. The clothing of the lawyers also undergoes a transformation, becoming darker in the later examples of the composition. Our painting corresponds to this second type, in which Brueghel emphasizes the gravity of the lawyers through the darker tones of their garments. The remarkably well-preserved condition of this version, which has retained fine glazes revealing a brilliant modelling, allows one to fully appreciate the specific originality of this compositional type as well as the expressive faces of the figures, characteristic of Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s art.
Brought to you by
Olivia Ghosh
Specialist