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The creation of animals (recto)
Maker
(artist)
1577-1640
1577-1640
Title
The creation of animals (recto)
Date of Production
(circa) 1610
Medium
graphite, pen and brown ink, brown wash (recto and verso), on laid paper
Dimensions
Height: 27.4 cm
Width: 10.9 cm
Width: 10.9 cm
Accession Number
D.1978.PG.55.1
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
This drawing may have been intended to illustrate a new printed edition of the Bible, which never came to fruition. The inscription in Rubens’s hand at centre, ‘qui si fara la Creatione dell huomo’, notes where he anticipated depicting the creation of man in a final version of the scene. In preparatory studies such as this, Rubens would often describe in words imagery either very summarily sketched, or missing altogether. He annotated his drawings in Latin, Flemish and Italian, preferring the latter for correspondence.
Notes
The purpose of this design (along with D.1978.PG.55.2) is unknown, but they were probably intended for book illustrations for a new edition of the Vulgate, as the style resembles that of other drawings certainly made for engraved illustrations, as seen in a set of drawings in the Morgan Library (Fl. 17) used in a 1613 Missal. Popham dated these two sheets to c. 1610 based on their stylistic resemblance to the design for the tomb of Jean Richardot. The frames on the verso had been suggested as designs for ceiling compartments, but as one of them is shown hanging from chains, this would be impossible.
Provenance
William Young Ottley (1771-1836); sales Thomas Philipe, London, 10 July 1807, lot 512, and 17 June 1814, lot 1173, with D.1978.PG.55.2 (shillings 1,11) [this information supplied by Logan and Belkin 2023; 1807 catalogue not available online, but 1814 is on Brill, though no known copies of the catalogue are annotated with buyers' names]; Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769-1830), L.2445; ceded by his executors to Samuel Woodburn (London), 1835; Woodburn estate sale, Christie’s (London), 4 - 8 June 1860, lot 809; purchased there by Sir Thomas Phillips (1792-1872); by descent to his grandson, Thomas Fitzroy Fenwick (1856-1938); purchased from the Fenwick estate by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978), 1946; Princes Gate Bequest 1978
Exhibition History
Drawings Gallery Display - Reading Drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 21/01/2017-04/06/2017
Captured on Paper, Animals in the Prints and Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2002-11/08/2002
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate
Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 06/10/1988-08/01/1989
Captured on Paper, Animals in the Prints and Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2002-11/08/2002
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate
Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 06/10/1988-08/01/1989
Literature
Logan, Anne-Marie in association with Kristin Lohse Belkin, Anne-Marie Logan in association with Kristin Lohse Belkin, The Drawings of Peter Paul Rubens. A Critical Catalogue, Volume Two (1609-1620), 2 vols, Turnhout, 2023
I, no. 252
II, figs. 353 (recto), 354 (verso)
Herremans, Valerie, Rubens: Architecture and Sculpture. Architectural Sculpture, Brecht Vanoppen and Arnout Balis (eds.), CRLB XXII (4), 2019
pp. 68, 70
Kopecky, Veronika, ‘Die Beischriften des Peter Paul Rubens. Überlegungen zu handschriftlichen Vermerken auf Zeichnungen’, PhD diss., University of Hamburg, 2012
I, pp. 8, 52, 58; II, no. 8; III, nos. 8 (recto), 8v (verso)
ill. in vol. II, no. 8 (recto and verso) ...More
Wood, Jeremy, Rubens: copies and adaptations from Renaissance and later artists. Italian artists. I Raphael and his school (CRLB), London 2010
I, p. 189 under no. 17
II, fig. 35 (recto)
Belkin, Kristin Lohse, Rubens: copies and adaptations from Renaissance and later artists. (1), German and Netherlandish artists (CRLB), London 2009
pp. 91-92 under no. 2
d'Hulst, R.A. and M. Vandenven, Rubens: the Old Testament (CRLB), London 1989
no. 1
figs. 1 (recto) and 4 (verso, erroneously published as the verso to D.1978.PG.55.2)
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988-1989
cat. no. 28a
and pp. 2, 41
ill. on p. 24 (recto)
dated c. 1610
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, Oxford 1986 (2nd ed.)
p. 39
Judson, J. Richard and Carl van de Velde, Rubens: Book illustrations and title-pages (CRLB), London 1978
I, p. 96 note 1 under no. 7a
Seilern, Count Antoine, Corrigenda and Addenda to the Catalogue of paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, London 1971
no. 55
Martin, John Rupert, Rubens: the ceiling paintings for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp (CRLB), London 1968
p. 31 note 17
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, London 1959
p. 45
Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings & drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW 7, London 1955; I
no. 55
pls. CVII (recto), CVIII (verso)
Popham, A.E., Catalogue of drawings in the collection formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps, now in the possession of his grandson T. FitzRoy Phillipps Fenwick of Thirlestaine House Cheltenham, London 1935
no. 5a on p. 194
pl. LXXXVII (recto) ...Less
I, no. 252
II, figs. 353 (recto), 354 (verso)
Herremans, Valerie, Rubens: Architecture and Sculpture. Architectural Sculpture, Brecht Vanoppen and Arnout Balis (eds.), CRLB XXII (4), 2019
pp. 68, 70
Kopecky, Veronika, ‘Die Beischriften des Peter Paul Rubens. Überlegungen zu handschriftlichen Vermerken auf Zeichnungen’, PhD diss., University of Hamburg, 2012
I, pp. 8, 52, 58; II, no. 8; III, nos. 8 (recto), 8v (verso)
ill. in vol. II, no. 8 (recto and verso) ...More
Wood, Jeremy, Rubens: copies and adaptations from Renaissance and later artists. Italian artists. I Raphael and his school (CRLB), London 2010
I, p. 189 under no. 17
II, fig. 35 (recto)
Belkin, Kristin Lohse, Rubens: copies and adaptations from Renaissance and later artists. (1), German and Netherlandish artists (CRLB), London 2009
pp. 91-92 under no. 2
d'Hulst, R.A. and M. Vandenven, Rubens: the Old Testament (CRLB), London 1989
no. 1
figs. 1 (recto) and 4 (verso, erroneously published as the verso to D.1978.PG.55.2)
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988-1989
cat. no. 28a
and pp. 2, 41
ill. on p. 24 (recto)
dated c. 1610
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, Oxford 1986 (2nd ed.)
p. 39
Judson, J. Richard and Carl van de Velde, Rubens: Book illustrations and title-pages (CRLB), London 1978
I, p. 96 note 1 under no. 7a
Seilern, Count Antoine, Corrigenda and Addenda to the Catalogue of paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, London 1971
no. 55
Martin, John Rupert, Rubens: the ceiling paintings for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp (CRLB), London 1968
p. 31 note 17
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, London 1959
p. 45
Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings & drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW 7, London 1955; I
no. 55
pls. CVII (recto), CVIII (verso)
Popham, A.E., Catalogue of drawings in the collection formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps, now in the possession of his grandson T. FitzRoy Phillipps Fenwick of Thirlestaine House Cheltenham, London 1935
no. 5a on p. 194
pl. LXXXVII (recto) ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: none.
Collector's mark: Recto: lower left, blindstamped: Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445).
Inscription: Recto: lower centre, brown ink, artist’s hand: “qui si fara / la Creatione / dell huomo”. Verso: all artist’s hand: in upper frame: “3 / Annunciatio B virginis” (graphite, repeated below in brown ink); in centre frame: “4 / Nativitas Cristi” (graphite, repeated below in brown ink); in lower frame, with interjected lines in different ink: “5 / la predica di S Giovanni / da longe / Baptismus Cristi” (graphite, repeated below in brown ink).
Collector's mark: Recto: lower left, blindstamped: Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445).
Inscription: Recto: lower centre, brown ink, artist’s hand: “qui si fara / la Creatione / dell huomo”. Verso: all artist’s hand: in upper frame: “3 / Annunciatio B virginis” (graphite, repeated below in brown ink); in centre frame: “4 / Nativitas Cristi” (graphite, repeated below in brown ink); in lower frame, with interjected lines in different ink: “5 / la predica di S Giovanni / da longe / Baptismus Cristi” (graphite, repeated below in brown ink).
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