Lot Essay
This sketch, which was first analysed by Jaffé in 1969, is as Held confirms 'obviously connected' with the Holy Family on the reverse of the wings of the Sant'Ildefonso altarpiece, painted for the church of Saint James on the Coudenberg, the court church at Brussels, and now at Vienna.
The altarpiece was commissioned in 1630, soon after Rubens' return from England, and was paid for by the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia, whose husband the Archduke Albert had founded brotherhoods in honour of Sant'Ildefonso both in Portugal (1588) and in Brussels. Work proceeded in 1631 and the altarpiece may have been in place for the Saint's Feast Day on 23 January 1632.
The changes between this sketch and the picture result from the considerable difference in proportion between the two, and from the fact that the composition had to be distributed between the two separate panels of the wings of the altarpiece. Held observes that Rubens 'increased the decorum by giving more dignity in dress, physiognomy, and deportment to all the figures involved.'
The significance of the tree has been discussed. Jaffé proposed that it was a crab apple, alluding thus to the passion and to Christ's role as the second Adam. Held argues that the apple is an allusion to the song of Solomon: 'As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.' Held cites precedents in works by Mostaert and Niccolò dell' Abbate.
Jaffé pointed to Raphael's Small Holy Family in the Louvre as a prototype for the composition. Held argues for a more direct dependence on a Dürer woodcut of 1511 (Bartsch 96): 'It contains a similar cast of figures, and the right sides of the design anticipates Rubens' sketch in the placing and attitudes of both Joseph and the Virgin.'
No related drawings survive and the spontaneous character of his sketch may mean that it was Rubens' first rendition of the theme. Whether Rubens executed a further, definitive modello remains uncertain
The altarpiece was commissioned in 1630, soon after Rubens' return from England, and was paid for by the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia, whose husband the Archduke Albert had founded brotherhoods in honour of Sant'Ildefonso both in Portugal (1588) and in Brussels. Work proceeded in 1631 and the altarpiece may have been in place for the Saint's Feast Day on 23 January 1632.
The changes between this sketch and the picture result from the considerable difference in proportion between the two, and from the fact that the composition had to be distributed between the two separate panels of the wings of the altarpiece. Held observes that Rubens 'increased the decorum by giving more dignity in dress, physiognomy, and deportment to all the figures involved.'
The significance of the tree has been discussed. Jaffé proposed that it was a crab apple, alluding thus to the passion and to Christ's role as the second Adam. Held argues that the apple is an allusion to the song of Solomon: 'As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.' Held cites precedents in works by Mostaert and Niccolò dell' Abbate.
Jaffé pointed to Raphael's Small Holy Family in the Louvre as a prototype for the composition. Held argues for a more direct dependence on a Dürer woodcut of 1511 (Bartsch 96): 'It contains a similar cast of figures, and the right sides of the design anticipates Rubens' sketch in the placing and attitudes of both Joseph and the Virgin.'
No related drawings survive and the spontaneous character of his sketch may mean that it was Rubens' first rendition of the theme. Whether Rubens executed a further, definitive modello remains uncertain