Circle of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)
Circle of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)

A male nude, possibly Prometheus

Details
Circle of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp)
A male nude, possibly Prometheus
with inscription 'S.P.W.' (once on the recto and once on the verso)
black chalk, pen and brown ink, grey wash, the top corners cut
27.8 x 16.3 cm.
Provenance
probably A. Mos; R.W.P. de Vries, Amsterdam, 7-8 November 1928, lot number unknown; where purchased by I.Q. van Regteren Altena for 19.55 guilders (Inventory book: '553. t. Rubens?? naakt').



Literature
J. Müller Hofstede, 'Beiträge zum zeichnerischen Werk von Rubens', Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch, XXVII, 1965, p. 274, pl. 191 (as Peter Paul Rubens).
M. Jaffé, 'Exhibition for the Rubens Year - II', Burlington Magazine, CXX, 1978, p. 134 (as Rubens).
K. Renger, 'Review of Rubens Drawings and Sketches (The British Museum, London) and Peter Paul Rubens (Kunsthalle, Cologne)', Kunstchronik, XXXI, 1978, p. 143 (as Rubens's hand evident in the chalk, not in the wash or the pen work).
A.-M. Logan, 'Review of Book and Exhibitions: Rubens Exhibitions, 1977-78', Master Drawings, XVI, 1978, p. 425 (as not by Rubens).
J. Wood, Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists: Italian Masters III: Artists working in Central Italy and France (Corpus Rubenianum, XXVI), Antwerp, 2011, R. 20, pp. 443-4 (as Rejected).
Exhibited
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Paris, Fondation Custodia, and Brussels, Bibliothèque Albert 1er, Le Cabinet d'un Amateur: Dessins flamands et hollandais des XVIe et XVIIe siècles d'une collection privée d'Amsterdam, 1976-77, no. 104, pl. 99 (as Rubens; catalogue by J. Giltaij).
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Kunsthalle Köln, Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640, 1977, I, no. 77 (as Rubens).

Brought to you by

Harriet West
Harriet West

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

A copy with differences after a figure in Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. The composition of the present drawing was engraved by Paulus Pontius (1603-1658) around 1630 as Plate 6 in the Livre à dessiner (Hollstein 157), assembled from material associated with Rubens and others in his circle, but Jeremy Wood suggests that Pontius did not base his engraving on the present drawing but on another one, today untraced. Another version (possibly a copy) of the present drawing, more complete and untrimmed, is in the Art Institute, Chicago (inv. 1922.3107).

More from The I.Q. van Regteren Altena Collection Part IV

View All
View All