Peter Paul Rubens
1577-1640
The Adoration of the Magi: Matthew 2:1-11
ca. 1612-1613
11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (292 x 191 mm)
Pen and brown ink and wash, over black chalk, outlines incised with stylus on laid paper .
I, 230
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
Formerly attributed to School of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).
Rubens was a prolific designer of book illustrations and title pages, mostly for the famous Plantin-Moretus Press in Antwerp. This is his design for the Adoration of the Magi in the luxury 1613 folio edition of the Missale Romanum. The print, which was engraved in reverse by Theodoor Galle, was reused in the 1614 Breviarium Romanum (PML 78174). Anticipating the reverse direction of the print, Rubens depicted the Christ Child reaching out to Caspar with his left hand. In the 1613 Missale, Galle faithfully included every detail of Rubens's carefully executed design, including the head of a camel above the onlooker's plumed hat in the background, which is barely discernible in the drawing. In the 1614 Breviarium, however, Galle removed the camel as a result of Rubens's corrections. -- Exhibition Label, from "Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens"
Rubens was a prolific designer of book illustrations and title pages, mostly for the famous Plantin-Moretus Press in Antwerp. This is his design for the Adoration of the Magi in the luxury 1613 folio edition of the Missale Romanum. The print, which was engraved in reverse by Theodoor Galle, was reused in the 1614 Breviarium Romanum (PML 78174). Anticipating the reverse direction of the print, Rubens depicted the Christ Child reaching out to Caspar with his left hand. In the 1613 Missale, Galle faithfully included every detail of Rubens's carefully executed design, including the head of a camel above the onlooker's plumed hat in the background, which is barely discernible in the drawing. In the 1614 Breviarium, however, Galle removed the camel as a result of Rubens's corrections. -- Exhibition Label, from "Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens"
Inscriptions/Markings
Numbered on verso by Johann Goll van Franckenstein the Elder, in brown ink, "N 972".
Watermark: Eagle with crozier over three balls (cf. Briquet 1367-68).
Watermark: Eagle with crozier over three balls (cf. Briquet 1367-68).
Associated names
Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577-1640, School of, Formerly attributed to.
Huls, Samuel van, 1655-1734, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, J. (Johann), 1722-1785, former owner.
Ploos van Amstel, Cornelis, 1726-1798, former owner.
Vos, Jacob de, 1735-1833, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, Pieter Hendrik, 1787-1832, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853 former owner.
Robinson, John Charles, Sir, 1824-1913, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Huls, Samuel van, 1655-1734, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, J. (Johann), 1722-1785, former owner.
Ploos van Amstel, Cornelis, 1726-1798, former owner.
Vos, Jacob de, 1735-1833, former owner.
Goll van Franckenstein, Pieter Hendrik, 1787-1832, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853 former owner.
Robinson, John Charles, Sir, 1824-1913, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Bibliography
Tuinen, Ilona van. Power and Grace : Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens. New York : Morgan Library & Museum, 2018, no. 3 (repr.)
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 230.
Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 141-142, no. 305, repr.
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 230.
Stampfle, Felice, with the assistance of Ruth S. Kraemer and Jane Shoaf Turner. Netherlandish Drawings of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Flemish Drawings of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1991, p. 141-142, no. 305, repr.
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