THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
Details
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
Saint Jerome (recto); A Hand (verso)
with inscriptions 'v. Dÿck' (recto) and 'école v. Dyck' (verso); black chalk, two shades of grey wash (recto), black chalk (verso), on light brown paper, grey ink framing lines, watermark P4
195 x 265 mm.
Saint Jerome (recto); A Hand (verso)
with inscriptions 'v. Dÿck' (recto) and 'école v. Dyck' (verso); black chalk, two shades of grey wash (recto), black chalk (verso), on light brown paper, grey ink framing lines, watermark P4
195 x 265 mm.
Provenance
An unidentified collector's mark 'DA' in purple ink
An unidentified collector's mark 'DH' in a shield in red ink
Acquired from P. & D. Colnaghi, Exhibition of Old Master and English Drawings, 1969, no. 37, illustrated
An unidentified collector's mark 'DH' in a shield in red ink
Acquired from P. & D. Colnaghi, Exhibition of Old Master and English Drawings, 1969, no. 37, illustrated
Literature
A.K. Wheelock Jr., S.J. Barnes and J.S. Held (eds.), Anthony van Dyck, exhib. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990-1, p. 95 and under no. 8, footnote 6
The composition is closely related to the painting at Dresden, painted in about 1618 before the artist left for Italy, although already reflecting his intense study of Italian art, particularly Titian. The figures of the Saint and the lion are almost identical to those of the painting and the most obvious differences are the suppression of the crucifix, the open book and the curtain at the top. The way in which the tree trunk at the left has been moved towards the Saint suggests that the composition was deliberately adjusted to fit a rectangular format. Professor Michael Jaffé suggested in the Colnaghi catalogue of 1969 that this drawing is a preparatory study for an unexecuted print. The very finished quality of the drawing accords well with the copies after Rubens' paintings intended for the engraver, many of which have been attributed to the young Van Dyck. Van Dyck would have been well aware that the international fame of his master was built on the succes of such prints, and that they brought a steady income. The way in which he has corrected the black chalk outline of the figure with grey wash, recalls the corrections in bodycolour made by Rubens on drawings done in his studio for engravings, a good example of this is the Flight into Egypt in the British Museum, J.S. Held, Rubens Selected Drawings, Oxford, 1986, no. 235, pl. 266
The composition is closely related to the painting at Dresden, painted in about 1618 before the artist left for Italy, although already reflecting his intense study of Italian art, particularly Titian. The figures of the Saint and the lion are almost identical to those of the painting and the most obvious differences are the suppression of the crucifix, the open book and the curtain at the top. The way in which the tree trunk at the left has been moved towards the Saint suggests that the composition was deliberately adjusted to fit a rectangular format. Professor Michael Jaffé suggested in the Colnaghi catalogue of 1969 that this drawing is a preparatory study for an unexecuted print. The very finished quality of the drawing accords well with the copies after Rubens' paintings intended for the engraver, many of which have been attributed to the young Van Dyck. Van Dyck would have been well aware that the international fame of his master was built on the succes of such prints, and that they brought a steady income. The way in which he has corrected the black chalk outline of the figure with grey wash, recalls the corrections in bodycolour made by Rubens on drawings done in his studio for engravings, a good example of this is the Flight into Egypt in the British Museum, J.S. Held, Rubens Selected Drawings, Oxford, 1986, no. 235, pl. 266