by-nc

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Maker

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1599-1641

Title

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

Date of Production

c. 1619

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown and grey wash, traces of white bodycolour, on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines, laid down on a historic mount

Dimensions

Height: 37.8 cm
Width: 27.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1978.PG.327

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords









Label Text

Fire is used here as an instrument of torture and death. Saint Lawrence was martyred in the third century because of his refusal to surrender church treasures to the Roman authorities. Instead he distributed the valuables amonst the poor. His punishment was death, being roasted alive on a gridiron, a metal latticed frame, placed over a fire. Lawrence is said merely to have commented 'See, I am done enough on one side, now turn me over and cook the other.'

Provenance

possibly Pierre Crozat, Paris (1661-1740); his sale, Mariette (Paris), 10 April - 13 May 1741, lot 823 (with 10 other items, as Rubens); purchased there by Jean-Baptiste Nourri (1697-1784) [probably - catalogue at RKDH annotated just with letter “N”, but Italian drawings in this catalogue annotated with "N" identified as bought by Nourri in Bernadette Py's catalogue on the Louvre website]; Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville, Paris (1680-1765), L.2951; his estate sale, P. Rémy (Paris), 18-28 January 1779, lot 542 (as Rubens); purchased there by Lenoir (Paris) (140.1 frs); Jean-Baptiste Nourri (1697-1784); his sale, Folliot and Delalande (Paris), 24 February-14 March 1785, lot 845 (as Rubens); purchased there by Jacques Lenglier, Paris (1730-1814), for 50 livres [does not appear in any of the four sales catalogues of his collection on INHA]; Charles Paul Jean-Baptiste Bourgevin Vialart de Saint-Morys, Paris (1743-1795); his sale, Paillet and Milliotti, Paris, 6-18 February 1786, lot 416 (as Rubens) [INHA catalogue is annotated but no name or price next to this lot; Paillet's name is adjacent to the Rubens drawing in the previous lot, was this bought in? Brooks in his Master Drawings article also says Saint-Morys rebought many of the works he had consigned]; Willem II, King of the Netherlands (1792-1849); his sale, de Vries, Brondgeest (Amsterdam), 12 August 1850, lot 314 (as Rubens); purchased there by Samuel Woodburn, London (1786-1853) [although this could also be the version now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York]; Adolphe Stein, Paris (1913-2002); purchased from him by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978), November 1967 (£1500, as Rubens); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Exhibition History

Van Dyck : Gemälde von Anthonis van Dyck : Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, München, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 25/10/2019-02/02/2020

Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate
Collection
, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 06/10/1988-08/01/1989

Literature

Van Dyck : Gemälde von Anthonis van Dyck : Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, München, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, 2019 - 2020
cat. no. 5.5
p. 30 and no. 5.5 on p. 393
fig. 10 on p. 28
as by van Dyck

The Young Van Dyck, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 20 November 2012 - 31 March 2013, London 2013
p. 253

Peter Paul Rubens: the drawings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 15 January - 3 April 2005 New York, New Haven, London 2005
p. 47
fig. 27 on p. 47
as 'Ascribed to Anthony van Dyck' ...More

Rubens et l'art de la gravure, Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen and Montreal, musée national des beaux-arts de Québec, 2004-05
p. 55n47

Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988-1989
cat. no. 48
no. 48 on pp. 19, 30 under no. 35, 44
ill. on p. 45
as van Dyck(?) after Rubens, dated c.1618-19

Pohlen, Ingeborg, Untersuchungen zur Reproduktionsgraphik der Rubenswerkstatt, Munich 1985
pp. 266-67

The Young Van Dyck, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1980
pp. 89-90
rejected as by van Dyck

Rubens e l’incisione nelle collezioni di Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Villa della Farnesina alla Lungara, Rome, 1977
p. 75 under no. 135

Renger, Konrad, ‘Rubens Dedit Dedicavitque. Rubens’ Beschaftigung mit der eproduktionsgrafik’ in 'Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen', 1974; XVI
pp. 134n47, 136

Jaffé, Michael, 'Book Reviews. Gregory Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish school ca. 1600 - ca. 1900, London, 1970 and Antoine Seilern, Flemish Paintings and Drawings at 56 Princes Gate London, Addenda, London, 1969' in 'Art Bulletin', 1973 - pp. 462-64; 55
p. 464

Vlieghe, Hans, Saints (CRLB), London 1972-73
p. 107 under no. 126

Seilern, Count Antoine, Corrigenda and Addenda to the Catalogue of paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, London 1971
no. 327
as Van Dyck (?)

Müller Hofstede, J., ‘Rubens’ Grisaille für den Abendmahlsstich des Boetius à Bolswert’ in 'Pantheon', 1970; XXVIII
p. 109 and note 9

Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7. Addenda, London 1969; IV
no. 327
pl. XLII

Mariette, Pierre-Jean, Description sommaire des desseins des grands maistres d'Italie, des Pays-Bas et de France, du cabinet de feu M. Crozat, Paris 1741
no. 823 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower centre edge and lower right corner, brown ink, Dezallier d'Argenville’s hand: “Rubens” and “1559 [paraphe]”. Mount (historic), Verso: upper left corner, blue ink: “Marque de Crozat”.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, pen and brown ink, inventory number transcribed above: Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (L.2951).

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.ukFind out more about using and licensing our images.

____________________________

Buy a print from our collection