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Offering to Ceres

Maker

(artist)
1593-1678

Title

Offering to Ceres

Date of Production

early 1620s

Medium

traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, white bodycolour (now oxidised) on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines

Dimensions

Height: 31.5 cm
Width: 25.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1808

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

In Roman mythology, Ceres (or in Greek myth, Demeter) was the mother goddess of the earth, or corn goddess, associated with agriculture and the fertility of the land. Offerings were made to her in the hope that the earth would become fertile and yield crops; here, men, women and children place offerings of fruit and a pitcher of milk before a figure of Ceres who stands on a pedestal, her hair adorned with ears of corn, her arms filled with fruit and flowers. Ceres presided over the seasons of Spring and Summer; for the rest of the year the earth remained barren, corresponding to the months during which she was separated from her daughter Proserpine, queen of the Underworld.

Provenance

Frederick Richard Meatyard, London (1881-1966); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), by 1927; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977-January 1978

Jacob Jordaens 1593-1678, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 29/11/1968-05/01/1969

Master Drawings of the 17th century from the Witt Collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, Festival Exhibitions, Adelaide, 1968 ...More

Tekeningen van Jacob Jordaens, Rubenshuis, Antwerp and Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, 1966-67

Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962

Old Masters from the Witt Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 01/01/1943-01/05/1943

Trésor de l’art flamand du moyen âge au XVIIIme Siècle [Afdeeling van de Oud-Vlaamische Kunst], Antwerp, 1930

Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1927 ...Less

Literature

Díaz Padrón, Matías, Jordaens y España, 2 vols., Barcelona, 2018
p. 248
fig. 2 on p. 249

Portús, Javier and Montserrat Sabán, Catálogo de las pinturas. Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1996
p. 182 under no. 1547

Díaz Padrón, Matías, El siglo de Rubens en el Museo del Prado. Catálogo razonado de pintura flamenca del siglo XVII, 2 vols., Madrid, 1996
I, p. 624
I, ill. ...More

Flemish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, October 1977- January 1978
cat. no. 54

Díaz Padrón, Matías, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de Pinturas, I, Escuela Flamenca Siglo XVII, 2 vols., Madrid, 1975
p. 163 under no. 1547

d'Hulst, R.A., Jordaens drawings, London 1974
no. A.67
fig. 76

Jaffé, Michael, 'Reflections on the Jordaens Exhibition' in 'Bulletin of the National Gallery of Canada', 1969 (pub. 1971); XIII
p. 24

Jacob Jordaens 1593-1678, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1968-1969
cat. no. 141
ill.

d'Hulst, R.A., Jordaens (review of Ottawa exhibition) in 'Art Bulletin', LI, 1969, pp. 378-88
no. 141 on p. 385

Michalkowa, Janina, 'Jordaens w Ottawie' in 'Biuletyn Historii Sztuki', 1969; XXXI, 3
p. 306

Tekeningen van Jacob Jordaens, Rubenshuis, Antwerp and Boymans Museum, Rotterdam, 1966-1967
cat. no. 22

Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 40

d'Hulst, R.A., De tekeningen van Jacob Jordaens, Brussels 1956
p. 120 and no. 28 on pp. 329-30
fig. 72 on p. 123

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 127

Puyvelde, Leo van, Jordaens, Paris, Brussels, New York, London 1953
pp. 182 note 173 and 196

Held, Julius S., ''Malerier og Tegninger of Jacob Jordaens i Kunstmuseet' in 'Kunstmuseets Arschrift', Copenhagen 1939
pp. 10-11
Fig. 13 on p. 12

Mémorial de l’exposition d’art flamand ancien à Anvers, Antwerp, 1930 Paris 1932
cat. no. 415

Exposition internationale coloniale, maritime et d'art flamand, Antwerp, June - September 193
cat. no. 415

Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1927, 1927
cat. no. 610 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Verso: lower centre, graphite: "Jordaens"; lower right, graphite: "541"; lower right corner, on remnant of a former backing sheet, graphite, unclear: "MH" [?].

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