The Death of Seneca
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 165 x 117 cm h x w x d: Ram 191 x 145 x 12 cm
Inventory numberNM 740
AcqusitionGift 1864 count Lars E. von Engeström
Other titlesTitle (sv): Senecas död Title (en): The Death of Seneca
DescriptionDescription: The painting is a copy of Rubens’ The Death of Seneca in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. It represents an ancient sculpture of a fisherman, mistakenly identified as the Stoic philosopher Seneca committing suicide by severing the veins in his arms. Seneca was much admired in Ruben’s circle in Antwerp. The city was a centre of Neostoicism, a philosophical movement placing importance on the works of the Roman philosopher. Catalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 160: Technical notes: The painting’s original support is a single piece of dense, regular, plain weave, single-threaded fabric, with a weave count per cm of 14–15 horizontal threads and 16 vertical threads. The painting has been lined and is mounted on a non-original stretcher. Conservation records indicate that the painting was lined in 1960. The tacking edges of the original fabric support have been partially preserved on all sides, and pronounced cusping is present along the left, right and bottom edges, indicating that the painting is close to its original dimensions. The paint surface has been reduced by c. 1.5 cm along the left edge, folded over the new stretcher. The painting is considerably smaller than Rubens’ original panel painting in Munich, which includes two soldiers on the left. The fabric support was prepared with a thin, evenly applied, double ground, originally intended to hide the texture of the fabric. The upper layer consists of a thin, light greyish beige imprimatura. Paint was applied in opaque and semi-transparent layers, with mild impastos in Seneca’s white loincloth and pages of the book held by the scribe, and in the white highlights in his upturned eyes, silver hair and beard, and the bright yellow highlights on the brass basin. Seneca’s sallow yellowish flesh tones were applied thickly, with much admixture of lead white, and glazed with a warm reddish earth pigment in the shaded parts, possibly over a greyish underpaint. The figures were held in reserve when the dark background was painted. There are no pentimenti visible to the naked eye. The painting is generally in good condition. A thick, heavily discoloured layer of old varnish is present. Flaked losses of paint and ground layers occur along the edges. Localized areas of the paint layer show “cupping” and a tendency towards flaking. Extensive coarse retouching, and some old repainting (Seneca’s lower legs, the basin), covers scattered losses throughout the figures and background, but mainly concentrated in the figure of Seneca, the basin and the background at the top and bottom right. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1932, 1960, 1984 and 2002. Provenance: Coll. Bentzelstjerna-von Engeström; gift by Lars E. von Engeström, 1864; KM 1861, no. 1336. Exhibited: Stockholm 2004, no. 6; Stockholm 2010, no 18. Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 53 (as anonymous master, free copy after Rubens); Sander IV, p. 130, no. 1 (as anonymous master); Göthe 1887, p. 228 (as copy after Rubens); Göthe 1893, p. 280–281 (as copy after Rubens); Oldenburg 1922, p. 81, no. 1 (as copy after or school of Rubens); NM Cat.1958, p.175; NM Cat. 1990, p. 318; McGrath 1997, no. 54b, p. 296 (as copy after Rubens). Tacitus describes in his Annals (Book XV: 60–64) how Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.–A.D. 65), the Roman statesman, stoic philosopher and former tutor to the Emperor Nero, was forced on the orders of Nero, to commit suicide for alleged participation in the conspiracy of Piso in (65 A.D.). Tacitus describes the dignity and fortitude with which he went to his death. Seneca obliged by severing the veins in his arms so he would bleed to death. However, as the blood flowed so sluggishly from Seneca’s aged body, “old and lean from austere living” he had to cut again behind his ankles and knees, then took poison and was finally placed in a tub of warm water to hasten his end. Whilst performing this act, he assembled his friend, dictated a dissertation and finally expired. Seneca’s writings were read by many scholars in 17th century Europe. The eminent Flemish humanist, Justus Lipsius, who was also the teacher of Rubens’ brother Philip, translated his works. A well known painting by Rubens, today in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, depicts the artist together with Lipsius, his brother Philip and another pupil in front of a bust of Seneca.1 Previously the Nationalmuseum’s painting has been considered a studio copy of The Death of Seneca in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich .2 Elisabeth Mac- Grath (1997), however, does not believe that the picture comes from the workshop. Moreover the copy lacks the two soldiers in the background of the original. What is interesting in this context is Rubens’ use of classical sculptures as models for his composition. During his period of study in Rome he devoted himself to intensive study of groups of classical sculptures and made large and very detailed drawings of the originals while circling them to be able to depict them from different aspects. He later used these studies himself in various works. The Death of Seneca is based on sketches of the Borghese Fisherman, a Roman copy in black marble of a Hellenistic work, now in the Louvre (Fig. 2). This statue was discovered in a Roman vineyard in the latter half of the 16th century. As the lower parts of the legs were missing the sculpture was placed in a basin. When Rubens sketched the sculpture it belonged to Cardinal Scipio Borghese. At this time it was considered to depict the dying Seneca. Today, however, it has been realized that it depicts an African fisherman standing on the shore.3 Rubens sketched the sculpture from six different angles. These studies can now be seen in Milan, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. The frontal sketch in St. Petersburg has provided the model for this painting.4 The Copenhagen studies have, however, been attributed to a pupil, Willem Panneels.5 Engravings based on Rubens’ sketches were executed by C. Galle the elder and L. Vorsterman the elder. Another late 17th century painting after the original was sold at Sotheby’s in 2005.6 GCB 1 Selfportrait with Philip Rubens, Justus Lipsius and Jan Wouverius: The four Philosophers, panel 164 x 139, Florence, Palazzo Pitti. 2 Panel, 185 x 154.7. See Konrad Renger mit Claudia Denk, Flämische Malerei des Barock in der Alten Pinakothek, Munich, 2002, no. 305. 3 This already seem to have been clear to Göthe in 1893 and the context was first pointed out by Winckelmann in his comparison of the Borghese sculpture with a newly found replica in the Albani collection in Rome, Museo dei Conservatori. 4 Black chalk on paper, 46 x 32, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. 5 See Rubens Cantoor,The Drawings of Willem Panneels, vol I–II, A critical Catalogue by Jan Garff and Eva de la Fuente Pedersen with an introduction by Jan Garff, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen 1988b, no. 76–77. 6 Sotheby’s sale, Easton Neston, Northampton 17–19 May 2005, lot 95 (as follower of Peter Paul Rubens) oil on canvas 188 x 124.5. For other versions see McGrath 1997, pp. 296–267.[End]
Exhibited
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword