FJK 110
Rubens Peter-Paul (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
Garland of Flowers
ca. 1600-1608
6 17/32 × 16 1/2 in. (166 × 419 mm)
Medium
Pen, brown sepia ink and traces of charcoal on paper
Inscription upper: questo si fara di tutto Rilevo
Inscription bottom right: GB. Crist...(?)
Illegible inscription on the reverse upper right
Origin
Duke of Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth, no. 679A
Sale, Christie’s, London, July 13, 1984, no. 54
Jan Krugier Collection, Monaco, JK 3907
Jan Krugier Foundation
Bibliography
DÜCKERS Alexander, Linie, Licht und Schatten, Meisterzeichnungen und Skulpturen der Sammlung Jan und Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, Berlin: G & H Verlag, 1999, Catalogue raisonné, p. 416, ill.
RYLANDS Philip, The Timeless Eye. Master Drawings from the Jan and Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski Collection, Berlin: G & H Verlag, 1999, Catalogue raisonné, p. 416, ill.
Exhibitions
London, Royal Academy, Exhibition of Flemish and Belgian Art, 1927, no. 569.
Washington, National Gallery of Art; , New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library; Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; Cleveland Museum of Art; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada; Art Institute of Chicago; San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honour, Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, 1962-1963, no. 98.
London, Royal Academy, Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, 1969, no. 98.
Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Miradas sin Tiempo. Dibujos, Pinturas y Esculturas de la Coleccion Jan y Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, 2000, p. 124, no. 46, color ill. p. 125.
Notes
As Michael Jaffé observes, the inclusion of the burst pomegranates, apples, barley, grapes and artichokes, all of which have specifically symbolic connotations, implies that this was intended for a religious rather than a secular context. Rubens’s contribution to the Jesuit Church at Antwerp was not confined to his execution of the paintings of the ceiling. Although not the architect, he was concerned with the design of the building in an advisory capacity and controlled the internal decoration of this. As Jaffé points out, comparable swags were used overt the lateral tabernacles with statues of Saint Ignatius Loyola and Saint Francis Xavier and, paired, in the cases of the side doors leading to the galleries: a drawing in the archives of the church, which is identified in Rubens’s hand as for the Saint Francis Xavier niche, shows a festoon of similar proportion in which the burst pomegranates, apples, grapes and artichokes can be identified and is also supported by ribbons at the corners. This large study would not have been intended as a modello for the carver – the barley would have been difficult to execute in the intractable medium of marble in the manner implied – but does suggest how close an interest Rubens himself took in this aspect of the decoration of the church.”
Christie’s, Manson & Woods Ltd, Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, London July 1984
Request for information/loan
The Jan Krugier Foundation is devoted to increasing the impact of the collection of drawings through regular loans to major exhibitions. Loan applications should include a complete presentation of the project.