Ancient Drawing
See also : Renaissance Ancient Italy Rubens Christianity
Chronology : 15th century 1480-1499 16th century 1500-1519 1520-1529 1610-1619
Chronology : 15th century 1480-1499 16th century 1500-1519 1520-1529 1610-1619
LEONARDO
1
1481 Horse and Rider
2001 SOLD for £ 8.1M by Christie's
Preparatory drawings were are excellent practice for the painters of the later Renaissance. One of the early concerns by Leonardo da Vinci was to represent the movement and his favorite theme for his trials was the horse.
He used the highly demanding technique of the silverpoint which was not tolerant to mistake. He had learned it from Verrocchio but a reciprocal influence between both masters must be considered.
In 1481 Leonardo is commissioned by a Florentine church for an Adoration of the Magi. which he leaves unfinished when he moves to Milan several months later.
A preparatory drawing for that picture was sold for £ 8.1M by Christie's on July 10, 2001, lot 30. It was made early in that project, evidenced by the fact that the horse had got rid of the man in the final composition. The horse was displayed in reverse in the drawing, head turned to the other side.
This piece is a silverpoint drawing on prepared paper 120 x 78 mm.
He used the highly demanding technique of the silverpoint which was not tolerant to mistake. He had learned it from Verrocchio but a reciprocal influence between both masters must be considered.
In 1481 Leonardo is commissioned by a Florentine church for an Adoration of the Magi. which he leaves unfinished when he moves to Milan several months later.
A preparatory drawing for that picture was sold for £ 8.1M by Christie's on July 10, 2001, lot 30. It was made early in that project, evidenced by the fact that the horse had got rid of the man in the final composition. The horse was displayed in reverse in the drawing, head turned to the other side.
This piece is a silverpoint drawing on prepared paper 120 x 78 mm.
2
1480s Head of a Bear
2021 SOLD for £ 8.9 by Christie's
Leonardo da Vinci needs animals to populate the stagings of his painting. He tries an unprecedented realism of the pose of live animals in his preparatory drawings. He uses the highly accurate technique of the silverpoint for that purpose.
On July 8, 2021, Christie's sold for £ 8.9M the drawing of the head of a bear made by Leonardo in the 1480s, lot 20. This piece is a silverpoint on 7 x 7 cm pink-beige prepared paper with top corners cut.
No bear is known to appear in Leonardo's paintings. Nevertheless this drawing was certainly used as a preparatory sketch for the pet stoat when he designed the Lady with an ermine at the end of the same decade.
On July 8, 2021, Christie's sold for £ 8.9M the drawing of the head of a bear made by Leonardo in the 1480s, lot 20. This piece is a silverpoint on 7 x 7 cm pink-beige prepared paper with top corners cut.
No bear is known to appear in Leonardo's paintings. Nevertheless this drawing was certainly used as a preparatory sketch for the pet stoat when he designed the Lady with an ermine at the end of the same decade.
#AuctionUpdate Leonardo da Vinci's 'Head of a bear' achieved £8,857,500 in The Exceptional Sale, setting a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a drawing by the artist. The drawing is an exquisite demonstration of #LeonardodaVinci's unsurpassed mastery as a draughtsman. #ClassicWeekLondon pic.twitter.com/d0Ja2Ualub
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) July 8, 2021
1486 The Triumphs of Mantua
2020 SOLD for $ 11.7M including premium
From 1460 Andrea Mantegna was in the service of the successive marquis of Mantua, of the Gonzaga dynasty. His genius far ahead of his time is recognized by his patrons, giving him a facility for new experiences on proportions and perspective.
One of his most important achievements is the series of the Triumphs of Caesar. Nine tempera paintings were made in a unique format 268 x 278 cm. A tenth image is known from an engraving. The realization lasted several years. It was sufficiently advanced in 1486 to be praised by the Duke of Ferrara.
These paintings were conceived as a narrative suite, with a homogeneity in the position of the light. We do not know however in what chronology they were painted. Acquired by King Charles I, this monumental set is exhibited in a row at Hampton Court.
A preparatory drawing for the second opus has just surfaced. Measuring 26.6 x 26.6 cm, it is an exact 1:10 scale. The hero on horseback passes between two monumental statues which are an Aesculapius standing on a carriage and a head of Cybele.
This drawing has a role of demonstration before the realization of the painting. The inscriptions identifying Aesculapius at the top of the carriage and Alexandria under the round tower were not copied in the final work. The banner texts have changed. Divo Iulio Aug ... became Imp Iulio Caesari ob Galliam devict in a reference to the First Italian War. A competent condottiero, the marchese Francesco II Gonzaga was in 1495 the governor general of the armies of the League of Venice against the new 'Gallic' invader.
The infrared inspection of the drawing, carried out by Sotheby's, revealed important reworks skillfully masked in the line, confirming that the work is autograph. The tall Aesculapius thus hides a previous Apollo whose much smaller dimension could be mingled with the characters of the action. The invocation of Aesculapius in a triumph, maintained in the painting, is a fancy.
This drawing is estimated in excess of $ 12M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on January 29, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's in which the artwork is commented by the specialist Cristiana Romalli who was the discoverer of the hidden figures.
One of his most important achievements is the series of the Triumphs of Caesar. Nine tempera paintings were made in a unique format 268 x 278 cm. A tenth image is known from an engraving. The realization lasted several years. It was sufficiently advanced in 1486 to be praised by the Duke of Ferrara.
These paintings were conceived as a narrative suite, with a homogeneity in the position of the light. We do not know however in what chronology they were painted. Acquired by King Charles I, this monumental set is exhibited in a row at Hampton Court.
A preparatory drawing for the second opus has just surfaced. Measuring 26.6 x 26.6 cm, it is an exact 1:10 scale. The hero on horseback passes between two monumental statues which are an Aesculapius standing on a carriage and a head of Cybele.
This drawing has a role of demonstration before the realization of the painting. The inscriptions identifying Aesculapius at the top of the carriage and Alexandria under the round tower were not copied in the final work. The banner texts have changed. Divo Iulio Aug ... became Imp Iulio Caesari ob Galliam devict in a reference to the First Italian War. A competent condottiero, the marchese Francesco II Gonzaga was in 1495 the governor general of the armies of the League of Venice against the new 'Gallic' invader.
The infrared inspection of the drawing, carried out by Sotheby's, revealed important reworks skillfully masked in the line, confirming that the work is autograph. The tall Aesculapius thus hides a previous Apollo whose much smaller dimension could be mingled with the characters of the action. The invocation of Aesculapius in a triumph, maintained in the painting, is a fancy.
This drawing is estimated in excess of $ 12M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on January 29, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's in which the artwork is commented by the specialist Cristiana Romalli who was the discoverer of the hidden figures.
#AuctionUpdate: Andrea Mantegna’s only preparatory drawing for one of the canvases in the Triumphs of Caesar, realizes $11.7 million - a new record for a drawing by the artist at auction, and the 5th highest price for a drawing ever at auction pic.twitter.com/p6e3THFEU6
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) January 29, 2020
1490s Michelangelo after Masaccio
2022 SOLD for € 23M by Christie's
In the 1490s Michelangelo Buonarroti trained by Ghirlandaio used to copy some masterpieces of the Quattrocento for preparing his own paintings. He was specially inspired from Masaccio's fresco Baptism of the Neophytes studied by him in Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence under a Medici patronage before or after Savonarola's bonfires. This practice was recorded by his biographer Vasari in 1568.
Previously attributed to a later minor artist or to the school of Michelangelo, a drawing 33 x 20 cm in pen, two shades of brown ink and brown wash was attributed for the first time in 2019 to the master by an expert at Christie's. Its availability on the international art market had been delayed by a French export ban which is now lifted.
The main character is a full length fleshy young nude in a shivering position that copies the man in the right in Masaccio's Carmine Baptism. Two lesser figures comfort him from behind in a softer hue. Some relief effect is added by skilled hatchings. Remorses have been made with a dark ink, confirming that this piece was a study for a painting by the young master.
This drawing was sold for € 23M by Christie's on May 18, 2022, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Previously attributed to a later minor artist or to the school of Michelangelo, a drawing 33 x 20 cm in pen, two shades of brown ink and brown wash was attributed for the first time in 2019 to the master by an expert at Christie's. Its availability on the international art market had been delayed by a French export ban which is now lifted.
The main character is a full length fleshy young nude in a shivering position that copies the man in the right in Masaccio's Carmine Baptism. Two lesser figures comfort him from behind in a softer hue. Some relief effect is added by skilled hatchings. Remorses have been made with a dark ink, confirming that this piece was a study for a painting by the young master.
This drawing was sold for € 23M by Christie's on May 18, 2022, lot 1. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
First it was Raphael making $38m; then da Vinci made $11.8m; now a rediscovered Michelangelo is looking for $33m @christiesparis this Mayhttps://t.co/oXmswtdga3 pic.twitter.com/BNt64YAPzg
— LiveArt (@artmarket) April 5, 2022
masterpiece
1502 Feldhase by Dürer
Albertina Wien
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1508-1511 Raphael and the Vatican Muse
2009 SOLD 29.1 M£ including premium
The three great Italian masters of the early sixteenth century were Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raffaello. A drawing of one of them coming on the market is an event.
The author of the work we are discussing today is Raphael, the youngest of the three. For five centuries, all the art critics have praised him and noted the perfection of his paintings. His works were the subject of preparatory drawings very sharp, detailed and contrasted, at the exact size he wanted for the final motif.
Knowing the above, we understand better why some drawings are composite, for example hand and head . But the black chalk drawing 30.5 x 22.2 cm that Christie's will sell in London on December 8 is more important.
This pretty young woman head with flying hair in full frame is a preparation for a character of a Muse. It still have the perforations made by the artist to project the outline through the paper on the frescoes of the Vatican (1508 to 1511). It is estimated 12 million pounds.
This sale passionates the press. Here are the articles shared by Bloomberg, by Guardian and by Telegraph.
POST SALE COMMENT
We were here in the presence of a real historical work, because of the role played by this drawing in the process of decoration of the Vatican.
The result is also historical from the point of view of auction.
Sold £ 29.1 million including premium, it is the world record for a work on paper, and the second highest price for a work of ancient art, according to the information provided by Christie's.
The author of the work we are discussing today is Raphael, the youngest of the three. For five centuries, all the art critics have praised him and noted the perfection of his paintings. His works were the subject of preparatory drawings very sharp, detailed and contrasted, at the exact size he wanted for the final motif.
Knowing the above, we understand better why some drawings are composite, for example hand and head . But the black chalk drawing 30.5 x 22.2 cm that Christie's will sell in London on December 8 is more important.
This pretty young woman head with flying hair in full frame is a preparation for a character of a Muse. It still have the perforations made by the artist to project the outline through the paper on the frescoes of the Vatican (1508 to 1511). It is estimated 12 million pounds.
This sale passionates the press. Here are the articles shared by Bloomberg, by Guardian and by Telegraph.
POST SALE COMMENT
We were here in the presence of a real historical work, because of the role played by this drawing in the process of decoration of the Vatican.
The result is also historical from the point of view of auction.
Sold £ 29.1 million including premium, it is the world record for a work on paper, and the second highest price for a work of ancient art, according to the information provided by Christie's.
#Raphael was #BornOnThisDay in 1483. In 2009, we offered an auxiliary sketch by #Raphael. The drawing, one of the best of Raphael’s surviving sketches set a #WorldAuctionRecord for a work on paper at £29,161,250 https://t.co/GDloR0vDil pic.twitter.com/pfYMt2hbGe
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 6, 2019
1514 Cristo della Minerva by Michelangelo
2000 SOLD for £ 8.1M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
The gradual revelation of the antique sculpture arouses the enthusiasm of patrons. Michelangelo becomes the great specialist in the male nude. On this theme, David, completed in 1504 when the artist was not yet 30 years old, was his masterpiece. This monumental statue is also a technical feat, made in a block of marble whose gigantic dimensions had discouraged his predecessors.
From 1505, Michelangelo is in Rome. His patron, with whom relations are often difficult, is Pope Julius II, who is reconstructing Saint Peter's Basilica around the project of his monumental tomb, the execution of which is entrusted to Michelangelo. It was also during this period that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
Julius II died in 1513. While waiting for instructions from his heirs to continue or not working on the funerary monument, Michelangelo accepted commitments from other clients.
In 1514 he receives an order for a life-size Redeemer Christ for adorning a funeral altar in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. This Christ will be standing, passionately holding the cross in a total nudity which will attest to his purity.
Michelangelo is very enthusiastic, understandably, for this project which is perfectly matching his fervent but somewhat risque conception of Christian piety. According to his usual practice, he begins to prepare drawings of high graphic accuracy to anticipate shapes and lights. Many of these sketches were destroyed by the artist himself because they disclosed too much information about his know-how.
A 24 x 21 cm double-sided preparatory drawing intermingling figures for the Cristo della Minerva has survived. The side commonly considered as the back is certainly the first. It includes a study of legs and feet. On the other side, the body serves as a support for a crosshatched study of the textures of the abdomen. This drawing was sold for £ 8.1M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 2000, lot 83.
Two marble statues of this vigorous Christ were made. The first, autograph, was abandoned after the chiseling of the left cheek revealed a black vein in the marble. The second, damaged by clumsy apprentices, ended up being guaranteed as authentic by Michelangelo, not without reluctance. It was described as mirabilissima by Vasari. At the time of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholics will add the stigmata, as well as a bronze loincloth to hide the sexual organs.
From 1505, Michelangelo is in Rome. His patron, with whom relations are often difficult, is Pope Julius II, who is reconstructing Saint Peter's Basilica around the project of his monumental tomb, the execution of which is entrusted to Michelangelo. It was also during this period that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
Julius II died in 1513. While waiting for instructions from his heirs to continue or not working on the funerary monument, Michelangelo accepted commitments from other clients.
In 1514 he receives an order for a life-size Redeemer Christ for adorning a funeral altar in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. This Christ will be standing, passionately holding the cross in a total nudity which will attest to his purity.
Michelangelo is very enthusiastic, understandably, for this project which is perfectly matching his fervent but somewhat risque conception of Christian piety. According to his usual practice, he begins to prepare drawings of high graphic accuracy to anticipate shapes and lights. Many of these sketches were destroyed by the artist himself because they disclosed too much information about his know-how.
A 24 x 21 cm double-sided preparatory drawing intermingling figures for the Cristo della Minerva has survived. The side commonly considered as the back is certainly the first. It includes a study of legs and feet. On the other side, the body serves as a support for a crosshatched study of the textures of the abdomen. This drawing was sold for £ 8.1M including premium by Christie's on July 4, 2000, lot 83.
Two marble statues of this vigorous Christ were made. The first, autograph, was abandoned after the chiseling of the left cheek revealed a black vein in the marble. The second, damaged by clumsy apprentices, ended up being guaranteed as authentic by Michelangelo, not without reluctance. It was described as mirabilissima by Vasari. At the time of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholics will add the stigmata, as well as a bronze loincloth to hide the sexual organs.
1520 Study for the Transfiguration
2012 SOLD 29.7 M£ including premium
The last twelve years of the short life of Raphael, from 1508 to 1520, marked an unprecedented success in the history of Western art.
Working directly for popes, cardinals and the powerful Medici family, Raphael manages a workshop of fifty artists whose production is prolific, but he himself designs the artworks, performs the preparation and executes the most important paintings.
The fashion of the time is for large-size frescoes and altar paintings prepared by innumerable drawings. Once the artist is satisfied with the composition, he pierces the latest drawings to transfer the lines into the final work. The pierced modello drawing of the head of a Vatican Muse was sold £ 29.1 million including premium at Christie's on December 8, 2009.
On December 5 in London, Sotheby's sells a drawing in black chalk, 38 x 28 cm, from the collection of the Dukes of Devonshire. It is illustrated in the article shared by Bloomberg.
This head of an apostle in meditation was made during the preparation of the Transfiguration, that huge oil on canvas, 405 x 278 cm, unfinished at the untimely death of the artist.
Completed by his studio, this monumental painting marks a turning point in Western art. The composition in two registers is bold. Above, Christ enters the light. The bright representation of the event is an iconographic challenge which anticipates Rembrandt.
Down on Earth, the apostles are attending a miracle by Christ, each one reacting in his own way. The care taken in the empathy between these men is announcing Mannerism and Baroque art.
The drawing for sale is not final and has not been pierced. This is a beautiful portrait of expression, with very nice thin line. It is estimated £ 10M.
POST SALE COMMENT
On December 8, 2009, a perforated drawing by Raphael showing the head of a Muse was sold £ 29.1 million including premium.
The head of a young apostle got an almost identical price: £ 29.7 million including premium. It is a great success for its owner, the Duke of Devonshire, possessor at Chatsworth of one of the best art collections in the world.
I invite you to play the videos shared by Sotheby's :
Working directly for popes, cardinals and the powerful Medici family, Raphael manages a workshop of fifty artists whose production is prolific, but he himself designs the artworks, performs the preparation and executes the most important paintings.
The fashion of the time is for large-size frescoes and altar paintings prepared by innumerable drawings. Once the artist is satisfied with the composition, he pierces the latest drawings to transfer the lines into the final work. The pierced modello drawing of the head of a Vatican Muse was sold £ 29.1 million including premium at Christie's on December 8, 2009.
On December 5 in London, Sotheby's sells a drawing in black chalk, 38 x 28 cm, from the collection of the Dukes of Devonshire. It is illustrated in the article shared by Bloomberg.
This head of an apostle in meditation was made during the preparation of the Transfiguration, that huge oil on canvas, 405 x 278 cm, unfinished at the untimely death of the artist.
Completed by his studio, this monumental painting marks a turning point in Western art. The composition in two registers is bold. Above, Christ enters the light. The bright representation of the event is an iconographic challenge which anticipates Rembrandt.
Down on Earth, the apostles are attending a miracle by Christ, each one reacting in his own way. The care taken in the empathy between these men is announcing Mannerism and Baroque art.
The drawing for sale is not final and has not been pierced. This is a beautiful portrait of expression, with very nice thin line. It is estimated £ 10M.
POST SALE COMMENT
On December 8, 2009, a perforated drawing by Raphael showing the head of a Muse was sold £ 29.1 million including premium.
The head of a young apostle got an almost identical price: £ 29.7 million including premium. It is a great success for its owner, the Duke of Devonshire, possessor at Chatsworth of one of the best art collections in the world.
I invite you to play the videos shared by Sotheby's :
1523 Head of Saint Joseph by Andrea del Sarto
2005 SOLD for £ 6.5M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2016 before the sale of another drawing by Gestas et Carrère (see below)
The drawing is a preparatory work indispensable to the painters of the later Renaissance. Raphael and Michelangelo produce high quality drawings which they retain as reusable models : these artworks are the ben finito cartoni.
Some copies are pierced to ensure an exact reproduction of the lines when executing the final painting. A black chalk drawing by Raphael, perforated for an application on the Vatican frescoes, was sold for £ 29.1M including premium by Christie's on December 8, 2009.
The red chalk or sanguine is also in use. The earliest artist who mixed the two chalks on a same drawing was probably Piero Pollaiuolo around 1470. Fra Bartolommeo followed this technique when he prepared a group of portraits around 1515.
In the abundant work of Andrea del Sarto, only three drawings in two chalks have survived. All three are studies of an old man's head for St. Joseph. Their applications for paintings made by this master in the 1520s have been identified with certainty.
In the following of Fra Bartolommeo, Andrea draws the main lines in black and inserts the sanguine to bring a fleshy effect on cheeks, lips and ears. The drawing is then providing a realistic impression that foresees the actual look of the painting.
One of the three drawings of St. Joseph is preserved at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Another one, 37 x 23 cm with a leg study in the sanguine on the back side, was sold for £ 6.5M including premium by Christie's on July 5, 2005, lot 14.
The third drawing was sold for € 3.9M including premium by Gestas et Carrère on December 17, 2016.
Some copies are pierced to ensure an exact reproduction of the lines when executing the final painting. A black chalk drawing by Raphael, perforated for an application on the Vatican frescoes, was sold for £ 29.1M including premium by Christie's on December 8, 2009.
The red chalk or sanguine is also in use. The earliest artist who mixed the two chalks on a same drawing was probably Piero Pollaiuolo around 1470. Fra Bartolommeo followed this technique when he prepared a group of portraits around 1515.
In the abundant work of Andrea del Sarto, only three drawings in two chalks have survived. All three are studies of an old man's head for St. Joseph. Their applications for paintings made by this master in the 1520s have been identified with certainty.
In the following of Fra Bartolommeo, Andrea draws the main lines in black and inserts the sanguine to bring a fleshy effect on cheeks, lips and ears. The drawing is then providing a realistic impression that foresees the actual look of the painting.
One of the three drawings of St. Joseph is preserved at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Another one, 37 x 23 cm with a leg study in the sanguine on the back side, was sold for £ 6.5M including premium by Christie's on July 5, 2005, lot 14.
The third drawing was sold for € 3.9M including premium by Gestas et Carrère on December 17, 2016.
ca 1520s A Child Prodigy in Leiden
2018 SOLD for £ 11.5M including premium
The city of Leiden has become rich thanks to its weaving industry. The crafts were also developed : printing press from 1483, glass etching, goldsmith's work. Its earliest important painter, Cornelis Engebrechtsz or Engelbrechtsz, who specializes in Biblical scenes, trains his sons and his apprentices.
A pupil of Cornelis, Lucas Hugensz is skilled for graphic arts. From his adolescence, he shows a great maturity. Beginning in 1508, his engraved work is important, with an abundance and sharpness of details and a beauty of contrasts that have enthralled Dürer. The colors of his paintings are the brightest of his time. He is known as Lucas van Leyden.
Lucas was born in Leiden. It is believed that his father was a painter. His date of birth is questioned. We do not know how he learned engraving or after whom he specialized in his genre scenes animated by crowds of characters. He married in Leiden in 1515 and died in 1533 at about 40 years old.
His biography is blurred by his praise by van Mander, born fifteen years after the death of Lucas, who could however have collected the memories of direct witnesses. Lucas appears passionate about his art from his childhood, working day and night until the exhaustion that will shorten his life.
The autograph works by Lucas van Leyden are extremely rare at auction. On December 4 in London, Christie's sells as lot 60 a 28 x 13 cm black chalk drawing of a richly dressed young man standing, probably a study for a detail of a composition that has not been identified. The watermark is known in Netherlands and Germany in the 1520s and 1530s.
This drawing belonged to the Rugby School and is sold for the benefit of its educational program. The September 10 press release announces an estimate in the region of £ 1.5M.
A pupil of Cornelis, Lucas Hugensz is skilled for graphic arts. From his adolescence, he shows a great maturity. Beginning in 1508, his engraved work is important, with an abundance and sharpness of details and a beauty of contrasts that have enthralled Dürer. The colors of his paintings are the brightest of his time. He is known as Lucas van Leyden.
Lucas was born in Leiden. It is believed that his father was a painter. His date of birth is questioned. We do not know how he learned engraving or after whom he specialized in his genre scenes animated by crowds of characters. He married in Leiden in 1515 and died in 1533 at about 40 years old.
His biography is blurred by his praise by van Mander, born fifteen years after the death of Lucas, who could however have collected the memories of direct witnesses. Lucas appears passionate about his art from his childhood, working day and night until the exhaustion that will shorten his life.
The autograph works by Lucas van Leyden are extremely rare at auction. On December 4 in London, Christie's sells as lot 60 a 28 x 13 cm black chalk drawing of a richly dressed young man standing, probably a study for a detail of a composition that has not been identified. The watermark is known in Netherlands and Germany in the 1520s and 1530s.
This drawing belonged to the Rugby School and is sold for the benefit of its educational program. The September 10 press release announces an estimate in the region of £ 1.5M.
On 4 December Christie’s will present 'Old Masters/New Scholars: Works of Art to Benefit Rugby School,' led by a rare drawing by the Dutch Old Master painter and printmaker Lucas van Leyden.
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 7, 2018
Find out more about the sale here:https://t.co/AYcX38U2C7 pic.twitter.com/qNFrXbi61L
1610 The Weight of the Cross
2019 SOLD for $ 8.2M including premium
Informed that his mother is dying, Rubens rushes back to Antwerp at the end of 1608. The ongoing peace negotiations in The Hague, accompanied by cease-fire, bring great hope to Flanders, and the artist will not come back to Italy.
The truce of Antwerp, signed in April 1609, puts an end to warfare for twelve years but religious tensions remain. The St. Walburga's church in Antwerp commissions to Rubens for its altar a monumental triptych on the theme of the elevation of the cross, conducive to distinguish the Catholic dogma from the Protestant.
This triptych prepared in 1610 is a masterpiece of baroque art. The soldiers who raise the cross are facing a superhuman weight that proves the real presence of Christ. The diagonal composition of the central panel and the dazzling chiaroscuro are inspired by Caravaggio's style. The almost nude or armored soldiers who handle the cross are strong men for whom Rubens remembers the Laocoon and Hercules Farnese, of which he had made drawings in Rome.
The painting is positioned in height above 19 steps. He finishes in 1611 in situ this work, 4.60 x 6.40 m overall in open position, which will be later transferred to the cathedral of Antwerp.
On January 30 in New York, Sotheby's sells a large drawing 49 x 32 cm made in preparation to the Elevation of the Cross, lot 15 estimated $ 2.5M. Both right corners were cut for an undetermined reason, perhaps by the artist himself.
This drawing shows a soldier raising his arm to push the cross. He is naked while he will have an armor in the painting. In accordance with the practice of the Italian Renaissance, the study of the nude makes it possible to avoid anatomical errors in the painting of attitudes.
It was prepared by the artist to compare in a single drawing two possible positions of the left leg, more or less bent. The closer position is more convincing to express the effort. Rubens draws a stronger line on this version that he will use in the final work.
The truce of Antwerp, signed in April 1609, puts an end to warfare for twelve years but religious tensions remain. The St. Walburga's church in Antwerp commissions to Rubens for its altar a monumental triptych on the theme of the elevation of the cross, conducive to distinguish the Catholic dogma from the Protestant.
This triptych prepared in 1610 is a masterpiece of baroque art. The soldiers who raise the cross are facing a superhuman weight that proves the real presence of Christ. The diagonal composition of the central panel and the dazzling chiaroscuro are inspired by Caravaggio's style. The almost nude or armored soldiers who handle the cross are strong men for whom Rubens remembers the Laocoon and Hercules Farnese, of which he had made drawings in Rome.
The painting is positioned in height above 19 steps. He finishes in 1611 in situ this work, 4.60 x 6.40 m overall in open position, which will be later transferred to the cathedral of Antwerp.
On January 30 in New York, Sotheby's sells a large drawing 49 x 32 cm made in preparation to the Elevation of the Cross, lot 15 estimated $ 2.5M. Both right corners were cut for an undetermined reason, perhaps by the artist himself.
This drawing shows a soldier raising his arm to push the cross. He is naked while he will have an armor in the painting. In accordance with the practice of the Italian Renaissance, the study of the nude makes it possible to avoid anatomical errors in the painting of attitudes.
It was prepared by the artist to compare in a single drawing two possible positions of the left leg, more or less bent. The closer position is more convincing to express the effort. Rubens draws a stronger line on this version that he will use in the final work.
A signed drawing by Peter Paul #Rubens, which has been part of the Dutch royal family's collection for almost 200 years, is heading to auction this month at @Sothebys: https://t.co/IrHn2O9WmZ pic.twitter.com/b1uZbA1rud
— Barnebys.co.uk (@Barnebysuk) January 11, 2019
