Salomon de Bray
1597-1664
The Twins Clara and Albert de Bray
1646
6 1/4 x 6 inches (160 x 152 mm)
Red chalk, over black chalk, on laid paper; framing line in dark brown ink.
III, 176
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
The drawing was used for a more formal painting of the two infants now in a private collection in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The inscription at the lower right identifies the newborn twins as Clara and Albert, the children of de Bray's nephew Simon. The sheet is dated 12 August 1646, probably recording the twins' birth. Though a finished work in its own right, this delicate red-chalk drawing later served as the model for a painting now in a private collection in Edinburgh. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
The inscription at the lower right identifies the newborn twins as Clara and Albert, the children of de Bray's nephew Simon. The sheet is dated 12 August 1646, probably recording the twins' birth. Though a finished work in its own right, this delicate red-chalk drawing later served as the model for a painting now in a private collection in Edinburgh. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed and dated by the artist at lower right, in red chalk, "1646 8/12 ["8" above "12" in superscript] / Neef Simon de Braÿ Symon[szoon] / 2 lingen Clara [in superscript] Albert [in subscript below "Clara"] y". On the verso, in graphite: at upper left, "181"; and at lower center, "S de Bray".
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis within a shield over small letter "O" (similar to Heawood, no. 1664: Amsterdam, 1646), fragment, top is cut off.
Watermark: Fleur-de-lis within a shield over small letter "O" (similar to Heawood, no. 1664: Amsterdam, 1646), fragment, top is cut off.
Associated names
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, III, 176, repr.
Stampfle, Felice. Rubens and Rembrandt in Their Century : Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century from The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979, no. 61, repr.
Jane Shoaf Turner, with contributions by Felice Stampfle, Dutch Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library: Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries, New York, 2006, cat. no. 44.
Stampfle, Felice. Rubens and Rembrandt in Their Century : Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the Seventeenth Century from The Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979, no. 61, repr.
Jane Shoaf Turner, with contributions by Felice Stampfle, Dutch Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library: Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries, New York, 2006, cat. no. 44.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department