The Holy Family with Sts. Elisabeth and John the Baptist
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 143 x 137 cm h x w x d: Ram 177 x 172 x 9 cm
Inventory numberNM 2785
Other titlesTitle (sv): Den heliga familjen Title (en): The Holy Family with Sts. Elisabeth and John the Baptist Previous: The Holy Family
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 95: Technical notes: The painting’s original support, two similar pieces of fine to medium-weight, tightly woven, plain weave, single-threaded fabric, sewn together with a horizontal seam c. 26.0/28.4 cm from the top edge, has been lined. The tacking edges of the original fabric support have been cropped, and the painting is attached to a non-original stretcher at the tacking edges of the lining fabric. The texture of the canvas is apparent in the surface of the image, its appearance emphasized as a result of the lining process. The evidence of shallow cusping along all edges but the top indicates that the painting approximates its original dimensions, but was once slightly taller. The support was prepared with a moderately thick, light beige ground, intended to hide the texture of the fabric support. Infrared reflectography partially revealed dark underdrawing in a dry medium, black chalk or charcoal, in several areas, mainly along the contours of the figures: in the drapery over Mary’s left shoulder, the contours of her eyes, of the St. John’s chin, the Christ Child’s belly and right hand, in St. Elisabeth’s headdress on the left side. Mary’s left ear was underdrawn in a dif- ferent position, to the right of that shown in the painting. Paint was applied thickly in mostly opaque layers, with vigorous brushwork and strong impastos in the whites, such as the pillow on which the Christ Child is resting and the cloth next to it, as well as in the smoothly blended pale, pinkish white flesh tones of Mary, Christ, the Baptist and the putto, applied over a cool light grey underpaint that functions as a middle tone in the shaded areas. The areas of the flesh tones now display a fine localized craquelure. Frequent slight pentimenti occur in the form of contour adjustments made during the painting process, as in the right contour of the putto’s buttocks and thigh, the buttocks of the Christ Child, the lower back and buttocks of the St. John and the upper contour of Mary’s right hand supporting her breast. The final contours were then, partially, reinforced using a fine brush and reddish brown paint. Thick impastos and scumbling in white, yellow, brown or grey were used to paint the blond curls of Christ and St. John and St. Joseph’s grey hair and beard, creating texture by scratching individual curls into the wet paint probably using the brush handle. This was also used to create the fine lozenge pattern scratched into the wet paint of the folds of Mary’s blue mantle draped over her left shoulder. The painting is in good condition. Abrasion is moderate overall. A layer of slightly discoloured old varnish is present. The painting has been flattened through the lining process. Retouching covers losses of ground- and paint layers along the edges, the horizontal seam, a repaired short vertical scratch at the lower left and an area of large circular damage in the curtain swag at the top. There are large retouches in Joseph’s robe, Mary’s blue mantle, just below her left hand, in the putto’s wings, as well as scattered small retouches in the sky, the curtain swag at top centre and the foreground soil. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1930. Provenance: Coll. de Villeroud, 18th century; Coll. M. Roëhn 1836; Marquis de Gouvello 1869; Coll. Prosper Crabbe; auction Galérie Sedelmeyer, June 1890; Sold at Hôtel Drout april 1910; bequeathed by Christina Nilsson in 1930. Exhibited: Stockholm 1977, no. 82; Stockholm 2010, no. 67. Bibliography: Sjöblom 1930–1931, pp. 52–58, 100; NM Cat. 1958, p. 93; NM Cat. 1990, p. 171. Maria can be seen in the centre of the painting suckling the infant Jesus. The child lies in her lap with his head leaning against a cushion lying against a cradle. A small putto is helping to steady the cushion. At the head of the cradle can be seen the infant John. He is standing on the cradle supported by his mother, Elisabeth. To the right Joseph’s grey head can also be seen. Information about the earlier fate of the painting can be found in a catalogue for the auction of Monsieur Prosper Crabbe’s collection in the Galérie Sedelmeyer in June 1890. At the beginning of the 18th century it belonged to Monsieur de Villeroud, a lawyer in Louis XV’s council. The work was inherited by other members of his family and then by an artist named Roëhn. The painting was auctioned with a number of certificates of authenticity. According to a Monsieur Roux de Cantal the painting is entirely the work of Rubens. A statement from 1863 by the Royal French Museums’ experts at that time, Charles Paillet and Nicolas Perignion, guarantees that the painting is the work of Rubens and also one of his best. The painter Delacroix said when seeing the work: “It the finest I have seen by this great master next to the tomb in Saint-Jacques”. The French history painter Paul Delaroche also issued a certificate dated 1843. Today these documents are of mere historical interest. Axel Sjöblom was one of the first to express doubts when he compared this painting to other madonnas painted by Rubens. However the work does have links with similar compositions by Rubens, The Madonna with the Parrot in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp1 and The Holy Family with Saint Francis, Anne, and the Infant John the Baptist in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.2 Ludvig Burchard who devoted thorough study to Rubens’ pupils informed the Nationalmuseum that a similar painting is referred to as the work of Jan van den Hoecke by Charles Blanc.3 Several versions of the composition are on record, among them a painting that was owned by Duveen in London (previously the Duke of Sutherland, Stafford House) and a preliminary sketch (The Duke of Rutland’s collection in Belvoir Castle).4 Versions can be found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, The Holy Family under an Apple Tree and in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Brussels, The Virgin Mary and the Infant with Elisabeth and the Infant John the Baptist. Yet another version is in the Francine Clark Institute, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The Nationalmuseum’s painting differs from the last of these in the presence of the third child, the small putto. GCB 1 Wood, 163 x 189. See Burchardt and D’Hulst 1963, pp. 125–126. 2 Canvas, 176.5 x 208.6. See Walter Liedtke, Flemish Paintings II, 1984, pl. X, p. 10. 3 Charles Blanc, Le Trésor de la Curiosité, Paris, II, 1858, p. 92. 4 The painting was originally on panel 56 x51.5, but transferred to canvas; Goudstikker, Amsterdam August 1933, see Burlington mag. Nov. 1933, p. 230. Sold at Larsen’s auction, New York, 6 November 1947, lot 31.[End]
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword