Oil on panel
11 x 15 ins. (28 x 38 cm.)
Signed in monogram, lower centre
Provenance
European Private Collection
Recent cleaning of this intimate panel has revealed not only Poelenburgh’s characteristic monogram, but also its beautiful autograph quality. It is one of two versions of the subject by the artist, the other recorded by the RKD as being unsigned, and of smaller upright dimensions(i).
Amidst an idyllic Italianate landscape, the figure of Christ stands in a shallow rock pool, surrounded by putti and other followers. To his right, John the Baptist stands with his back to the viewer as he administers the sacrament. Above, billowing clouds filled with putti are illuminated by celestial light.
Poelenburgh is best known for his Arcadian landscapes, populated with small-scale biblical or mythological figures. Our picture has close affinities with a group of Poelenburgh’s paintings in which the action takes place in the heavens amidst grey, wispy clouds. Notable among the pictures in this vein is The Feast of the Gods (Mauritshuis, The Hague(ii)), which is indebted to Raphael’s Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche, on the ceiling of the Loggia in the Villa Farnesina in Rome. The importance of Raphael for Poelenburgh’s figural conception is confirmed by Joachim von Sandrart, one of the artist’s early biographers, who commented that in Italy Poelenburgh looked to Adam Elsheimer for his landscapes, but to Raphael for his figure style (iii).
Poelenburgh’s reputation as a leading representative of the first generation of Italianate artists rests securely upon his polished execution and his exquisite colour harmonies. In the present work the sky and landscape are characteristically rendered in tones of immaculate ultramarine and silvery greys and greens, while the delicately painted figures are enlivened by harmonious tints of warm reds, blues and greens. The figural group also displays Poelenburgh’s characteristic blend of realistic virtuosity and poetic idealisation so well beloved by contemporary collectors.
BIOGRAPHY OF CORNELIS VAN POELENBURGH
Cornelis van Poelenburgh was born in Utrecht c.1594. According to early sources, he studied with Abraham Bloemaert in Utrecht before travelling to Rome where he is recorded in 1617. While in Italy, he also visited Florence where he worked from 1621 to 1622 at the court of Cosimo II de’ Medici. In 1623 he became a founding member of the Schildersbent, the fellowship of Dutch and Flemish artists in Rome, whose members were known as Bentvueghels (‘birds of a feather’): he was given the nickname “Satiro” (Satyr) by his fellow artists in the Bent. He remained in Rome until about 1625 or 1626 when he returned to Utrecht, and he is one of the artists whom Rubens visited in Utrecht in 1627. He remained in Utrecht for the rest of his life, except for the years 1637 to 1641 when he worked at the English court of King Charles I.
Cornelis van Poelenburgh was a one of the most successful and influential painters of his time. He painted history, mythological and religious subjects as well as pastoral landscapes and a number of portraits. He collaborated occasionally with colleagues, adding figures to the landscapes of several artists including Jan Both, as exemplified in the superb Landscape with the Judgement of Paris, (National Gallery, London). He was also an influential teacher, numbering Dirck van der Lisse, Daniel Vertangen and Johan van Haensbergen among his pupils. The artist received numerous commissions from aristocratic patrons including Frederick V, Prince Frederick Hendrix, Cosimo II de’ Medici and King Charles I of England.
Cornelis van Poelenburgh is represented in many of the worlds great galleries and museums, including the National Gallery (London), the Mauritshuis, the Rijksmuseum, the Royal Collection, the Hermitage and the Louvre.
(i) Recorded in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, den Haag, as sold Christies London, 11/12/1942, lot 21. 11 ¾ x 11 ins. The Christies version differs from our version primarily in omitting the right hand section of the landscape and the two putti to the right of Christ.
(ii) Cornelis van Poelenburgh, Feast of the Gods, oil on copper, 38 x 49 cm, The Hague, Mauritshuis, Inv. No. 1065.
(iii) Joachim von Sandrart’s Academie der Bau-, Bild- und Mahlerey-Künste von 1675, edited by Dr. Arthur Rudolf Peltzer, Munich, 1925, p. 175.