A Noble Family Distributing Alms in a Park
Artist/Maker
DatesSigned: Sign. 1793
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 56 x 84 cm h x w x d: Ram 74 x 94 x 5 cm
Inventory numberNM 361
Other titlesTitle (sv): Förnäm familj ger allmosa i en park Title (en): A Noble Family Distributing Alms in a Park
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 31: Technical notes: The support consists of two horizontally joined oak boards 1.3 cm. thick. The boards have been sawn radially with a horizontal grain, cross marks over the joined boards at the reverse. All four sides have been bevelled by 2–3.5 cm. The panel retains its original format on all edges except at the top where it has been slightly cut. The panel has been prepared with a white chalk ground applied thinly and evenly from edge to edge and covers the support. The grain of the wood is faintly visible through the layers of ground and paint. The white chalk ground is covered by a thin, semi-transparent and pale yellowish-green imprimatura. Infra-red reflectography examination reveals underdrawing of figures, trees and architecture executed in a dry medium. The main outlines of the figures have been drawn with great ease and extensive detail. Some of the underdrawing, such as the little girl with a parasol in her hand, is clearly drawn and partly visible through the layers of paint. A number of major and minor pentimenti can be seen in the painting, demonstrating the artistic process. There are pentimenti in the building in the background, by the sphinx where the foliage created by the underdrawing has later been excluded, on the sleeve of the female beggar’s dress close to her right shoulder, on her face and feet (the latter eventually reduced in size), in various trees in the background which have later been overpainted, the direction of the noblewoman’s gaze which has been altered from slantwise downwards right in the underdrawing to slantwise left in the finished version. The contours of the foliage have been enhanced. A number of trees left of the woman’s shoulder in the centre of the painting have been overpainted. The paint is applied thinly and the underdrawing is partly visible in the painting. In the foliage there is some impasto in green. The painting is detailed and finely executed. The painting is in very good condition and underwent conservation treatment in 1921 and 1976. Provenance: KM 1816, no. 404; NM 1866 no.404; NM 1866 no. 361. Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 89, no. 404; NM Cat. 1867, p. 25; Göthe 1887, p. 30; Göthe 1893, p. 38; Von Wurzbach I 1906, p. 178; NM Cat. 1958, p. 26; NM Cat. 1990, p. 51. This painting is signed 1793, the year before Mattheus Ignatius van Brée was appointed professor at the Antwerp Academy of Art. It portrays an elegantly dressed mother walking with her children in a park where a nobleman’s house is visible in the background. The inclusion of a small child in a goat-cart is an allusion to an earlier and mainly Dutch iconographic tradition. Next to the child in the cart a negro page with headgear resembling a turban is depicted. The main scene in the painting consists of the distribution of charity. A small upper-class girl dressed in white is holding money out in her hand to a female pauper with her two children, one an infant she is nursing at her breast. The pauper, who is seated and gazing in appeal at the little girl, is depicted in simple garments with a scarf tied round her dark hair. The different social positions are indicated by the garments and postures of the figures: the noblewoman and her daughter are wearing fashionable, light and airy clothes and have parasols while the pauper and her children are portrayed in simple garments and have no shoes. The differences in the postures of the figures, with the woman and her daughter standing while the pauper and her children are seated, emphasise the upper and lower class perspective. Behind the family we can see a sphinx on a pedestal, a characteristic decoration in the landscaped parks of the day. In the middle ground, a wooden fence divides the park from the verdant foliage in the background and the impressive patrician building with its decoratively placed sculptures, or urns and its tympanum adorned with sculptures. Iconographically the painting alludes to a family portrait tradition already developed by Jan Mytens and other 17th century painters in the Netherlands, where the subjects are placed in the open air in various poses and gestures. This genre was further developed during the 18th century, often with more narrative features, to result in a generic blend of features from both portraits and genre paintings. The Nationalmuseum’s work, which has been executed with cogent contours and a great deal of detail, has a well-developed interplay of light and shadow on and next to the figures and in the surrounding park environment. In this way the work accords with contemporary neo-classicist ideals about the treatment of light, explicit contours and palette. It is a youthful work in which Van Brée is not yet fully under the influence of the ideals he was later to adopt from David’s oeuvre during his stay in Paris. Another youthful work by Van Brée, signed and dated in 1794, which is similar in character to the Nationalmuseum’s work and which depicts a young upper-class couple in a verdant landscaped park, was sold at Christie’s in the spring of 2008.1 Technically the painting is in very good condition with few retouches and individual details in fine, precise brushwork. The white chalk ground on the two joined panels has been overpainted with a semi-transparent imprimatura in a pale shade of green before the paint has been applied. The many pentimenti in the work are of particular interest in the way they demonstrate the process of artistic creation and the evolution of the motif from the concept to the final product. KS 1 Christie’s Auction, New York, April 2008, lot 335. [End]Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 31: Technical notes: The support consists of two horizontally joined oak boards 1.3 cm. thick. The boards have been sawn radially with a horizontal grain, cross marks over the joined boards at the reverse. All four sides have been bevelled by 2–3.5 cm. The panel retains its original format on all edges except at the top where it has been slightly cut. The panel has been prepared with a white chalk ground applied thinly and evenly from edge to edge and covers the support. The grain of the wood is faintly visible through the layers of ground and paint. The white chalk ground is covered by a thin, semi-transparent and pale yellowish-green imprimatura. Infra-red reflectography examination reveals underdrawing of figures, trees and architecture executed in a dry medium. The main outlines of the figures have been drawn with great ease and extensive detail. Some of the underdrawing, such as the little girl with a parasol in her hand, is clearly drawn and partly visible through the layers of paint. A number of major and minor pentimenti can be seen in the painting, demonstrating the artistic process. There are pentimenti in the building in the background, by the sphinx where the foliage created by the underdrawing has later been excluded, on the sleeve of the female beggar’s dress close to her right shoulder, on her face and feet (the latter eventually reduced in size), in various trees in the background which have later been overpainted, the direction of the noblewoman’s gaze which has been altered from slantwise downwards right in the underdrawing to slantwise left in the finished version. The contours of the foliage have been enhanced. A number of trees left of the woman’s shoulder in the centre of the painting have been overpainted. The paint is applied thinly and the underdrawing is partly visible in the painting. In the foliage there is some impasto in green. The painting is detailed and finely executed. The painting is in very good condition and underwent conservation treatment in 1921 and 1976. Provenance: KM 1816, no. 404; NM 1866 no.404; NM 1866 no. 361. Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 89, no. 404; NM Cat. 1867, p. 25; Göthe 1887, p. 30; Göthe 1893, p. 38; Von Wurzbach I 1906, p. 178; NM Cat. 1958, p. 26; NM Cat. 1990, p. 51. This painting is signed 1793, the year before Mattheus Ignatius van Brée was appointed professor at the Antwerp Academy of Art. It portrays an elegantly dressed mother walking with her children in a park where a nobleman’s house is visible in the background. The inclusion of a small child in a goat-cart is an allusion to an earlier and mainly Dutch iconographic tradition. Next to the child in the cart a negro page with headgear resembling a turban is depicted. The main scene in the painting consists of the distribution of charity. A small upper-class girl dressed in white is holding money out in her hand to a female pauper with her two children, one an infant she is nursing at her breast. The pauper, who is seated and gazing in appeal at the little girl, is depicted in simple garments with a scarf tied round her dark hair. The different social positions are indicated by the garments and postures of the figures: the noblewoman and her daughter are wearing fashionable, light and airy clothes and have parasols while the pauper and her children are portrayed in simple garments and have no shoes. The differences in the postures of the figures, with the woman and her daughter standing while the pauper and her children are seated, emphasise the upper and lower class perspective. Behind the family we can see a sphinx on a pedestal, a characteristic decoration in the landscaped parks of the day. In the middle ground, a wooden fence divides the park from the verdant foliage in the background and the impressive patrician building with its decoratively placed sculptures, or urns and its tympanum adorned with sculptures. Iconographically the painting alludes to a family portrait tradition already developed by Jan Mytens and other 17th century painters in the Netherlands, where the subjects are placed in the open air in various poses and gestures. This genre was further developed during the 18th century, often with more narrative features, to result in a generic blend of features from both portraits and genre paintings. The Nationalmuseum’s work, which has been executed with cogent contours and a great deal of detail, has a well-developed interplay of light and shadow on and next to the figures and in the surrounding park environment. In this way the work accords with contemporary neo-classicist ideals about the treatment of light, explicit contours and palette. It is a youthful work in which Van Brée is not yet fully under the influence of the ideals he was later to adopt from David’s oeuvre during his stay in Paris. Another youthful work by Van Brée, signed and dated in 1794, which is similar in character to the Nationalmuseum’s work and which depicts a young upper-class couple in a verdant landscaped park, was sold at Christie’s in the spring of 2008.1 Technically the painting is in very good condition with few retouches and individual details in fine, precise brushwork. The white chalk ground on the two joined panels has been overpainted with a semi-transparent imprimatura in a pale shade of green before the paint has been applied. The many pentimenti in the work are of particular interest in the way they demonstrate the process of artistic creation and the evolution of the motif from the concept to the final product. KS 1 Christie’s Auction, New York, April 2008, lot 335. [End]Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 31: Technical notes: The support consists of two horizontally joined oak boards 1.3 cm. thick. The boards have been sawn radially with a horizontal grain, cross marks over the joined boards at the reverse. All four sides have been bevelled by 2–3.5 cm. The panel retains its original format on all edges except at the top where it has been slightly cut. The panel has been prepared with a white chalk ground applied thinly and evenly from edge to edge and covers the support. The grain of the wood is faintly visible through the layers of ground and paint. The white chalk ground is covered by a thin, semi-transparent and pale yellowish-green imprimatura. Infra-red reflectography examination reveals underdrawing of figures, trees and architecture executed in a dry medium. The main outlines of the figures have been drawn with great ease and extensive detail. Some of the underdrawing, such as the little girl with a parasol in her hand, is clearly drawn and partly visible through the layers of paint. A number of major and minor pentimenti can be seen in the painting, demonstrating the artistic process. There are pentimenti in the building in the background, by the sphinx where the foliage created by the underdrawing has later been excluded, on the sleeve of the female beggar’s dress close to her right shoulder, on her face and feet (the latter eventually reduced in size), in various trees in the background which have later been overpainted, the direction of the noblewoman’s gaze which has been altered from slantwise downwards right in the underdrawing to slantwise left in the finished version. The contours of the foliage have been enhanced. A number of trees left of the woman’s shoulder in the centre of the painting have been overpainted. The paint is applied thinly and the underdrawing is partly visible in the painting. In the foliage there is some impasto in green. The painting is detailed and finely executed. The painting is in very good condition and underwent conservation treatment in 1921 and 1976. Provenance: KM 1816, no. 404; NM 1866 no.404; NM 1866 no. 361. Bibliography: Sander IV, p. 89, no. 404; NM Cat. 1867, p. 25; Göthe 1887, p. 30; Göthe 1893, p. 38; Von Wurzbach I 1906, p. 178; NM Cat. 1958, p. 26; NM Cat. 1990, p. 51. This painting is signed 1793, the year before Mattheus Ignatius van Brée was appointed professor at the Antwerp Academy of Art. It portrays an elegantly dressed mother walking with her children in a park where a nobleman’s house is visible in the background. The inclusion of a small child in a goat-cart is an allusion to an earlier and mainly Dutch iconographic tradition. Next to the child in the cart a negro page with headgear resembling a turban is depicted. The main scene in the painting consists of the distribution of charity. A small upper-class girl dressed in white is holding money out in her hand to a female pauper with her two children, one an infant she is nursing at her breast. The pauper, who is seated and gazing in appeal at the little girl, is depicted in simple garments with a scarf tied round her dark hair. The different social positions are indicated by the garments and postures of the figures: the noblewoman and her daughter are wearing fashionable, light and airy clothes and have parasols while the pauper and her children are portrayed in simple garments and have no shoes. The differences in the postures of the figures, with the woman and her daughter standing while the pauper and her children are seated, emphasise the upper and lower class perspective. Behind the family we can see a sphinx on a pedestal, a characteristic decoration in the landscaped parks of the day. In the middle ground, a wooden fence divides the park from the verdant foliage in the background and the impressive patrician building with its decoratively placed sculptures, or urns and its tympanum adorned with sculptures. Iconographically the painting alludes to a family portrait tradition already developed by Jan Mytens and other 17th century painters in the Netherlands, where the subjects are placed in the open air in various poses and gestures. This genre was further developed during the 18th century, often with more narrative features, to result in a generic blend of features from both portraits and genre paintings. The Nationalmuseum’s work, which has been executed with cogent contours and a great deal of detail, has a well-developed interplay of light and shadow on and next to the figures and in the surrounding park environment. In this way the work accords with contemporary neo-classicist ideals about the treatment of light, explicit contours and palette. It is a youthful work in which Van Brée is not yet fully under the influence of the ideals he was later to adopt from David’s oeuvre during his stay in Paris. Another youthful work by Van Brée, signed and dated in 1794, which is similar in character to the Nationalmuseum’s work and which depicts a young upper-class couple in a verdant landscaped park, was sold at Christie’s in the spring of 2008.1 Technically the painting is in very good condition with few retouches and individual details in fine, precise brushwork. The white chalk ground on the two joined panels has been overpainted with a semi-transparent imprimatura in a pale shade of green before the paint has been applied. The many pentimenti in the work are of particular interest in the way they demonstrate the process of artistic creation and the evolution of the motif from the concept to the final product. KS 1 Christie’s Auction, New York, April 2008, lot 335. [End]
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