The Holy Family
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 64 x 52 cm h x w x d: Ram 73 x 61 x 6 cm
Inventory numberNM 899
AcqusitionTransferred 1866 from Kongl. Museum (1792 Gustaf III)
Other titlesTitle (sv): Den heliga familjen Title (en): The Holy Family
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 227: Technical notes: A dendrochronological examination has shown a felling date for the panel between c. 1594 and 1610, the most plausible date being 1604. The monogram F/DB, that of the seventeenth-century Antwerp panel-maker Francois de Bout (active 1637–1643) was discovered on the panel.1 The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1929 and 1948. Provenance: Coll. Sack, Bergshammar; acquired by Gustav III (as Crown prince) 1779; Gustav III 1792, no. 4 (as Sebastien Bourdon); Drottningholm; transferred to the NM in 1865. Bibliography: Sander II, p. 101, no. 4 (as Sebastien Bourdon); Sander III, p. 64 (as S. Vouet); Göthe 1887, p. 28 (as Sebastien Bourdon); Göthe 1893, p. 35 (as Sebastien Bourdon); NM Cat. 1958, p. 226 (as anonymous Flemish master); NM Cat.1990, p. 370 (as attributed to Pierre J. J. Verhagen). The earlier attribution to Pierre J. J. Verhagen is clearly wrong. This is obvious for both stylistic reasons and from the technical data. An attribution to Philippe Vleughels made by Jaques Thuillier during his visit to Stockholm in 1975 seems reasonable and convincing.2 Vleughels’ painting reveals both his Flemish background, with impulses from Rubens and the artists in his circle, and the French classical tradition deriving from Poussin and Sébastien Bourdon as it was cultivated in the Royal Academy. This is obvious not least in this painting, where the idyllic family scene is set at the foot of a Corinthian column. It was probably painted at the beginning of the 1640s shortly after the artist’s arrival in Paris. GCB 1 Cf. Van Damme 1990, pp. 220–222. 2 As noted by Bo Wennberg. See the NM curatorial files. [End]
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword