RKD STUDIES

1630–86; canvas, 30.8 x 22.5 cm

PROVENANCE
Cartwright Bequest, 1686 (no. 211 ‘5l; no. 211; Josiph & mary & our Saviour on a clouth pasted on bourd’).

REFERENCES
Sparkes & Carver 1890, p. 38, no. 79 (The Holy Family); Richter & Sparkes 1892, p. 140, no. 79 (not exhibited); Richter & Sparkes 1905, p. 142, no.79; Cook 1914, p. 275, no. 506 (Artist unknown); Cook 1926, p. 256; Cat. 1953, p. 48; Murray 1980a, p. 303 (Unknown); Beresford 1998, p. 310 (Unknown; Probably based on a Flemish prototype); Jonker & Bergvelt 2016, p. 209; RKD, no. 275036: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/275036 (May 9, 2017)

EXHIBITION
London 1987–8, pp. 26, 56, no. 42 (N. Kalinsky: British School).¹

RELATED WORKS
1a) Prime version: Peter Paul Rubens, St Willibrord adoring the Holy Family, c. 1630–31, oil on canvas, 395 x 315 cm (oval; probably since 1722). Church of St Willibrord, Antwerp [1].²
1b) Copy: Abraham van Diepenbeeck (?) after Peter Paul Rubens (1a), St Willibrord adoring the Holy Family, oil on panel, 47 x 36 cm. Gemäldegalerie, Oldenburg, LMO 15.616 [2].³
1c) After Peter Paul Rubens (1a, only the Holy Family), The Holy Family, black chalk on paper, 340 x 235 mm. Present whereabouts unknown (sale A. de Vries, Amsterdam, 26–27 June 1928, lot 244, ƒ450 as target price).⁴
1d.I) (in reverse) Schelte à Bolswert after Peter Paul Rubens (copy of part of 1a), The Virgin and Child near a Fountain, inscriptions, engraving on paper, 299 x 243 mm. BM, London, 1841,0809.26.⁵
1d.II ) (in reverse) after 1d.I, The Virgin and Child near a Fountain, 270 x 231 mm. Present whereabouts unknown (sale Christie’s, Old Master Drawings, 12 Jan. 1995, lot 266).
2) Jan Boeckhorst, The Holy Family with St Francis, oil on paper, on panel, 43.9 x 27.2 cm. Stadtmuseum, Münster, GE–0601–2.⁶

This is a crude 17th-century copy, probably made in London, after part of Rubens’s altarpiece of St Willibrord adoring the Holy Family, painted c. 1630–31 for the church of St Willibrord in Antwerp. The Antwerp painting is now oval (Related works, no. 1a) [1] ⁷ but was originally rectangular, and probably looked like a smaller copy in Oldenburg, which is attributed there to Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596–1675; Related works, no. 1b) [2].⁸ The St Willibrord altarpiece was not included in Rubens’s œuvre catalogues⁹ or in the Corpus Rubenianum volume about saints (1972–3), by Vlieghe; in 1977 Vlieghe rediscovered the altarpiece as a work by Rubens (and studio). In DPG506 only the Holy Family is depicted, with the Child standing on a stone pedestal with one foot raised, probably meant to be resting on the leg of his mother; St Willibrord and the angels crowning him have been left out. Probably a print or a drawing after the altarpiece was the model for the (amateur) London artist. The only known print could not have been the model: by Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert, it shows only the Madonna and Child, in reverse; he added a fountain and inscriptions which made the scene into a Madonna as the source of life (Related works, no. 1d.I). A drawing by an unknown artist, probably 17th-century (Related works, no. 1c), shows the scene with about the same crop; the quality seems to be a little better than in DPG506. The original painting in the church of St Willibrord inspired Jan Boeckhorst for a composition for an altarpiece with The Holy Family and St Francis, known by a modello; here we see a saint kneeling on stairs with the Holy Family towering above him (Related works, no. 2).

DPG506
after Peter Paul Rubens
Holy Family, 1630-1686
Dulwich (Southwark), Dulwich Picture Gallery, inv./cat.nr. DPG506

1
Peter Paul Rubens
St Willibrord adoring the Holy Family, c. 1630-1631
Antwerp, St. Willibrordus-kerk

2
attributed to Abraham van Diepenbeeck after Peter Paul Rubens
Holy family and Saint Willibrord, c. 1630
Oldenburg (place, Lower Saxony), Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Oldenburg, inv./cat.nr. LMO 15.616

17th century?; oak panel, 50.5 x 83.4 cm

PROVENANCE
Sir Joshua Reynolds sale, London, No. 28 Haymarket, 4 April 1791 (‘Ralph’s Exhibition’), no. 14 (Summer, represented by boys reaping); bt Lord Darnley (Reynolds’s ledger: ‘Lord Darnely, for a Sketch of Rubens of Little Boys Reaping – £26.5.0’);¹⁰ John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley (1767–1831), Cobham Hall, Kent; Darnley sale, Christie’s, 8 May 1802 (Lugt 6427), lot 24 (‘Rubens – Boys Reaping, a Sketch’); bt Bourgeois for £21;¹¹ Insurance 1804, no. 15 (‘Cupids reaping – Rubens; £100’); Bourgeois Bequest, 1811; Britton 1813, p. 2, no. 17 (‘Small parlour / no. 17, Cupids reaping – 6 naked boys in lande. Pan[el] Rubens; Lord Radnor has a duplicate’; 2'9" x 3'9").

REFERENCES
Cat. 1817, p. 10, no. 174 (‘SECOND ROOM – East side; Cupids Reaping; Rubens’); Haydon 1817, p. 387, no. 174;¹² Cat. 1820, p. 10, no. 174 (Cupids Reaping; Rubens); Cat. 1830, p. 7, no. 117 (Rubens); Jameson 1842, ii, pp. 460–61, no. 117;¹³ Bentley’s 1851, p. 347;¹⁴ Denning 1858, no. 117 (after Rubens); Denning 1859, no. 117 (unknown);¹⁵ Sparkes 1876, p. 150 (copy after P. P. Rubens); Athenaeum 1876, p. 133 (column 1); Richter & Sparkes 1880, p. 143, no. 117 (under old copies after Rubens); Richter & Sparkes 1892, p. 232 (not exhibited); Richter & Sparkes 1905, p. 128, no. 450 (Harvesting); Bouverie & Squire 1909, i, under no. 19 (Related works, no. 1b.I), pp. 12–13 (note 1);¹⁶ Cook 1914, p. 254; Cook 1926, p. 236; Cat. 1953, p. 35; Murray 1980a, p. 302; Broun 1994/1987, ii, pp. 148–9, no. 10;¹⁷ Beresford 1998, p. 215 (Manner of Rubens); Jonker & Bergvelt 2016, pp. 210, 215 (after Rubens); Büttner 2018a, i, pp. 117, 119, under no. 7, copy no. 2, ii, fig. 43; RKD, no. 294845: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/294845 (Aug. 2, 2019).

TECHNICAL NOTES
This possibly unfinished work is painted on an oak panel consisting of two horizontally joined members. There is a series of fine blisters at the top in the sky. The panel join is loose at the sides and needs rejoining, and there are some small losses in this region, particularly at the edges. This painting has been partially cleaned at some point and discoloured varnish has been left in the dips and hollows, which has a disturbing effect on the lighter passages. Some of the remaining old varnish is blanched. Previous recorded treatment: 1922, varnished; 1953–5, conserved, Dr Hell.

RELATED WORKS
1) ?Engraving by Bolswert after the prime version by Rubens with Jan Wildens.¹⁸
2a) Sketch, 28 x 34 cm. M. Barry collection, Marbury Hall; see Rooses 1886–92, iv (1890), p. 100, under no. 866 (Related works, no. 1b.I).¹⁹
2b.I) After Peter Paul Rubens, Cupids harvesting, panel, 55.9 x 88.9 cm. Earl of Radnor collection, Longford Castle, Salisbury [3].²⁰
2b.II) Attributed to Jan Boeckhorst after Rubens, Six Cupids reaping, canvas on panel, 52.5 x 91.5 cm. Property of the Federal Republic of Germany; on loan to the Gustav-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm, Mü-No. 4280.²¹
3) Cornelis Galle II after Jan Boeckhorst, In Solemnitate Corporis Christi, titlepage for the Missale Romanum, engraving, 1653. Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp [4].²²
4) Simon Vouet and studio, Ceres and harvesting Cupids, c. 1634–5, canvas, 145.5 x 188 cm. NG, London, NG6292.²³
5) Pieter van Avont and ?Frans Wouters, Putti dancing in a Landscape, c. 1630–52, panel, 36.9 x 57 cm. Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 403561.²⁴
6) Copy after DPG450: Edmund Thomas Parris (1793–1873), Putto carrying a Sheaf of Corn on his Back, pencil, 97 x 107 mm, inscribed Dulwich College and Rubens E T P 1818. NGS, Edinburgh, D 4802 A.19. ²⁵

DPG450 depicts a scene that seems inspired by Classical antiquity – cupids harvesting a field of wheat, with the figures arranged like an Antique frieze across the foreground of an arcadian landscape. That there was a duplicate with the Earl of Radnor was already known to Britton in 1813. It was realized almost immediately that the picture was not by Rubens. Mrs Jameson commented in 1842, ‘This is a most poor, coarse, and flagrant copy of a charming little composition by Rubens, now in possession of the Earl of Radnor. It has the appearance of having been painted, not from the picture, but from Bolswert’s reversed print: the figures being all left-handed.’²⁶ This is however also the case in the Radnor picture, which was probably painted after the same print; its quality seems, judging from a photograph, not much better than DPG450 (Related works, no. 2b.I) [3]. In the catalogues of the Radnor collection the picture is attributed to Peter Paul Rubens and Lucas van Uden.²⁷ In 1890 Rooses referred to a sketch for the Radnor picture mentioned by Waagen in 1854 (Related works, no. 1a). There is another version attributed to Boeckhorst, now in Germany (Related works, no. 2b.II).²⁸ It has not been possible to locate the Bolswert print mentioned by Mrs Jameson (if it exists). There is however a titlepage for a Missale Romanum by Cornelis Galle II (1615–78) after Jan Boeckhorst, in the margins of which are depicted very comparable babies: the one with a hat is in the print on the left; the one in the middle is on the right, now carrying grapes instead of wheat (Related works, no. 3) [4]. The cherubs in the print are busy with wheat (bread) and grapes (wine), which are eucharistical symbols, very fitting in the context of the sacrament of the Eucharist which is depicted in the upper part of the titlepage. The babies are reversed: they have their tools in their right hands. It is possible that Rubens was the original inventor of this composition, which seems to be lost (or was it Boeckhorst, who is mentioned as inventor in the Galle print?). In any case Rubens, or his collaborators, more often painted cupids carrying tools or fruit: see the cupids in the modelli with Ceres in St Petersburg and Switzerland (DPG43, Related works, nos 4d.I–II). The French artist Simon Vouet (1590–1649) combined harvesting cupids with Ceres in his picture now in the National Gallery in London (Related works, no. 4). Putti became a popular subject for minor Flemish artists such as Pieter van Avont (1600–1652): see for instance Putti dancing in a Landscape in the Royal Collection (Related works, no. 5). Here we see the same motif used in mythological, allegorical and religious contexts.

In 1987 Francis Broun noted that DPG450 is first documented in a sale of 176 pictures displayed at No. 28 Haymarket by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1791, where it was one of the few pictures sold. The buyer, Lord Darnley, disposed of the painting in 1802. It was then bought for 20 guineas by Sir Francis Bourgeois for the Desenfans/Bourgeois collection.

DPG450
after Peter Paul Rubens
Summer (Cupids harvesting), 17th Century
Dulwich (Southwark), Dulwich Picture Gallery, inv./cat.nr. DPG450

3
after Peter Paul Rubens
Summer (Six Cupids Harvesting), 17th Century
Longford Castle (Odstock), private collection Earl of Radnor

4
Cornelis Galle (II) after Jan Boeckhorst
In Solemnitate Corporis Christi, c. 1652-1653
Antwerp, Museum Plantin-Moretus – Prentenkabinet

17th century?; oak panel, 45.4 x 42.5 cm

PROVENANCE
Insurance 1804, no. 29 (‘A Small Landscape – Rubens . £100’); Bourgeois Bequest, 1811; Britton 1813, p. 1, no. 6 (‘Small parlour / no. 6, Landscape with sheep, a shepherd in foregd. Sk. [sic] Pan[el] Rubens’; f [sic]; 2.f [sic]).

REFERENCES
Cat. 1817, p. 9, no. 148 (‘SECOND ROOM – East side; A Landscape; Rubens’); Haydon 1817, p. 384, no. 148;²⁹ Cat. 1820, p. 9, no. 148 (A Landscape; Rubens); Cat. 1830, p. 9, no. 175; Jameson 1842, ii, p. 471, no. 175;³⁰ Denning 1858, no. 207 [sic; Denning confused nos 175 and 207];³¹ not in Denning 1859; Lavice 1867, p. 181 (Rubens no. 6; Paysage devenu tout noir (totally blackened landscape – but is the reference to DPG132?); Sparkes 1876, p. 153, no. 207 (Rubens); Richter & Sparkes 1880, p. 143, no. 207 (under old copies after Rubens); Richter & Sparkes 1892 and 1905, p. 59, no. 218; Cook 1914, p. 136; Cook 1926, p. 128; Cat. 1953, p. 35 (school of Rubens); Murray 1980a, p. 300 (after Rubens); Beresford 1998, pp. 214–15; Jonker & Bergvelt 2016, pp. 209, 215; RKD, no. 294843: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/294843 (Dec. 24, 2020).

TECHNICAL NOTES
The support is a two-member oak panel with horizontal grain and a slight convex warp; the central join is supported with a canvas strip on the reverse. There is a chip missing at the bottom right corner and several woodworm holes along the bottom edge. Three of the sides are bevelled slightly on the reverse, and the verso join is stepped because of the difference in thickness of the two members. There has been some flaking of the paint and ground around the panel join on the front, and there is a lot of paint loss and abrasion in the sky. Elsewhere the sky is thinly painted, allowing the sandy-coloured ground to show through. The brown appearance of the trees has been attributed to the probable presence of a discoloured copper-resinate glaze. There is a network of predominantly vertical cracks; these are worse and more visible in the dark areas. There are drying cracks in the very dark passages. There are some long scratches in the sky, and some small areas – notably in the left of the sky and to the right of the tree – where complete paint loss has occurred. Previous recorded treatment: 1953–5, conserved, Dr Hell; 1988, examined, Courtauld Institute of Art.

RELATED WORKS
1) Prime version: Peter Paul Rubens, Sunset Landscape with a Shepherd and his Flock, c. 1638–40, oak panel, 49.4 x 83.5 cm. NG, London, NG157 [5].³²
2) Peter Paul Rubens, Landscape with Moonlight, panel, 63.5 x 89 cm. Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London, Princes Gate Bequest 1978, D.1978.PG. 380.³³

DPG218 is a mediocre copy after the right half of Rubens’s Landscape with a Shepherd and his Flock in the National Gallery (Related works, no. 1) [5]. Its principal subject is a shepherd playing a flute in the evening, his flock around him. The relationship to the National Gallery picture was first noted by Murray in 1980. Denning in 1858 caused confusion since he mixed up the numbers that were previously 175 and 207, calling them both the ‘Two Rainbows’, which applies to DPG132 but not to DPG218.

Peter Murray also asked in a note whether DPG218 could have been the picture once in the collection of Sir Joshua Reynolds that was sold as lot 72 at Christie’s, London, on 7 Feb. 1801 (‘Rubens – A Landscape by Moonlight, a fine serene effect with the rich and luxuriant colouring of this great master; out of the collection of Sir Joshua Reynolds’).³⁴ However it seems more likely that that picture is the one now in the Courtauld Institute, London (Related works, no. 2).³⁵

The picture is testament to the high esteem in which Rubens’s landscapes were held in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. That the painting is on panel might suggest that it is an early copy, but until dendrochonological analysis is carried out this must remain a conjecture.

DPG218
after Peter Paul Rubens
Evening landscape
Dulwich (Southwark), Dulwich Picture Gallery, inv./cat.nr. DPG218

5
Peter Paul Rubens
Landscape with a shepherd and his flock, c.1638-1640
London (England), National Gallery (London), inv./cat.nr. NG157