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Female nude
Maker
(artist)
1577-1640
1577-1640
Title
Female nude
Date of Production
1628 - 1630
Medium
red, black and white chalk on laid paper, laid down on Jonathan Richardson the younger's red wash mount
Dimensions
Height: 26.9 cm
Width: 41.6 cm
Width: 41.6 cm
Accession Number
D.1978.PG.62
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
Life drawings of the female nude are – perhaps surprisingly – rare in Rubens’s oeuvre. However, the woman’s bracelet and the draped cloth are details from a studio session. By modelling the body finely with red and white chalk, Rubens evokes the sensuously soft surface of the skin, contrasting it with the drapery, resolutely sketched in black. The pose of the model, reclining in complete abandon, engages with the ancient tradition of the sleeping nymph, as also treated by the Venetian Renaissance painter Titian whom Rubens greatly admired.
Notes
This is inspired by Titian's The Andrians, now in the Prado, which he could have seen first in Rome, before he saw it in Madrid and made a copy, now in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
Provenance
Prosper Henry Lankrink, London (1628-1692), L.2090; Joseph van Haecken, London (1699-1749), L.2516; Jonathan Richardson, the younger, London (1694-1771), L.2170 and L.2997; Sir Joshua Reynolds, London (1723-1792), L.2364 and L.3016a; Gerald M. Fitzgerald; his sale, Sotheby's (London), 23 - 24 May 1922, lot 41; private collection, London; Zatzenstein-Matthiesen Gallery (London); purchased there by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978), 19 September 1941 (£900); Princes Gate Bequest 1978
Exhibition History
Rubens and Women, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 27/09/2023-28/01/2024
Drawings Gallery Display - Unseen, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/01/2015-29/03/2015
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate
Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 06/10/1988-08/01/1989 ...More
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/07/1981-26/01/1982 ...Less
Drawings Gallery Display - Unseen, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/01/2015-29/03/2015
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate
Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 06/10/1988-08/01/1989 ...More
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/07/1981-26/01/1982 ...Less
Literature
van Beneden, Ben, Amy Orrock, and Jennifer Scott. Rubens & Women. Great Britain: Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2023. Exhibition Catalog.
cat. no. no cat. no.
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
part I, p. 250 note 3 and under no. 242, Appendix (2)
rejected as Rubens
McGrath, Elizabeth, Bert Schepers, Nils Büttner, Gregory Martin, Jeremy Wood, Eveliina Juntunen, Gerlinde Gruber and Fiona Healy, Mythological Subjects. II. Hercules to Olympus, CRLB XI, 2 vols., London, 2022
I, no. 93 and pp. 456-57, 493
II, fig. 327 ...More
Pointon, Marcia, 'Peter Paul Rubens and the Mineral World', in 'Artibus et Historiae', 2019 - pp. 229-65; 79
p. 243
fig. 9 on p. 243
Woodall, Joanna, ‘Afterward’ in Cordula van Wyhe (ed.), Rubens and the Human Body, Turnhout, 2018, pp. 341-48
pp. 346-48
fig. 2 on p. 346
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988-1989
cat. no. 39
and p. 19
ill. on p. 34
dated c. 1628-30, or 1615-16; in file
Rubens in Oxford, The Picture Gallery, Christ Church, Oxford and Colnaghi, London London 1988
under no. 4
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, Oxford 1986 (2nd ed.)
p. 31
not later than 1620
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), Courtauld Gallery, London, 1981-1982
cat. no. 146
ill. on p. 106
in file
Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640. Austellung zur 400. Widerkehr seines Geburtstages, Klaus Demus (ed.), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1977
p. 106 under no. 42
entry author: Karl Schütz
Bernhard, Marianne, Rubens Handzeichnungen, Munich 1977
ill. on p. 431
Seilern, Count Antoine, Corrigenda and Addenda to the Catalogue of paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, London 1971
no. 62
in file
Burchard, Ludwig and R.A. d'Hulst, Rubens drawings, Brussels 1963
pp. 141-42 under no. 85
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, London 1959
p. 28
not later than 1620
Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings & drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW 7, London 1955; I
no. 62
pl. CXIX
as c. 1630 or slightly later; in file
Delacre, Maurice, Le dessin dans l'oeuvre de Van Dyck, Brussels 1934
pp. 172-73
Parker, K.T., Vasari Society, Second series, 1932; XIII
p. 11 under no. 9
Glück, G. and F.M. Haberditzl, Die Handzeichnungen von Peter Paul Rubens, Berlin 1928
no. 239
as Diana, c. 1635-40 ...Less
cat. no. no cat. no.
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
part I, p. 250 note 3 and under no. 242, Appendix (2)
rejected as Rubens
McGrath, Elizabeth, Bert Schepers, Nils Büttner, Gregory Martin, Jeremy Wood, Eveliina Juntunen, Gerlinde Gruber and Fiona Healy, Mythological Subjects. II. Hercules to Olympus, CRLB XI, 2 vols., London, 2022
I, no. 93 and pp. 456-57, 493
II, fig. 327 ...More
Pointon, Marcia, 'Peter Paul Rubens and the Mineral World', in 'Artibus et Historiae', 2019 - pp. 229-65; 79
p. 243
fig. 9 on p. 243
Woodall, Joanna, ‘Afterward’ in Cordula van Wyhe (ed.), Rubens and the Human Body, Turnhout, 2018, pp. 341-48
pp. 346-48
fig. 2 on p. 346
Rubens - Paintings, Drawings and Prints in the Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988-1989
cat. no. 39
and p. 19
ill. on p. 34
dated c. 1628-30, or 1615-16; in file
Rubens in Oxford, The Picture Gallery, Christ Church, Oxford and Colnaghi, London London 1988
under no. 4
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, Oxford 1986 (2nd ed.)
p. 31
not later than 1620
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), Courtauld Gallery, London, 1981-1982
cat. no. 146
ill. on p. 106
in file
Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640. Austellung zur 400. Widerkehr seines Geburtstages, Klaus Demus (ed.), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1977
p. 106 under no. 42
entry author: Karl Schütz
Bernhard, Marianne, Rubens Handzeichnungen, Munich 1977
ill. on p. 431
Seilern, Count Antoine, Corrigenda and Addenda to the Catalogue of paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London, London 1971
no. 62
in file
Burchard, Ludwig and R.A. d'Hulst, Rubens drawings, Brussels 1963
pp. 141-42 under no. 85
Held, Julius S., Rubens: selected drawings, London 1959
p. 28
not later than 1620
Seilern, Count Antoine, Flemish paintings & drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW 7, London 1955; I
no. 62
pl. CXIX
as c. 1630 or slightly later; in file
Delacre, Maurice, Le dessin dans l'oeuvre de Van Dyck, Brussels 1934
pp. 172-73
Parker, K.T., Vasari Society, Second series, 1932; XIII
p. 11 under no. 9
Glück, G. and F.M. Haberditzl, Die Handzeichnungen von Peter Paul Rubens, Berlin 1928
no. 239
as Diana, c. 1635-40 ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: centre: R made with single lines (this description preceded with a ? in Peter Bower's 2017 report. Not found in Heawood, Briquet or Piccard).
Mount (Richardson's): Verso, right centre: T DUPUY / AUVERGNE in lozenges (per Peter Bower, the paper used for the support was made by Thomas Dupuy, who worked in the Auvergne between 1685 and 1720).
Inscription: Mount (Richardson’s), Recto: lower centre, red ink, Richardson the younger’s hand (L.2997): “Rubens.”. Mount (Richardson's), Verso: lower left corner, red ink, L.3016a (Joshua Reynolds's sale): "Lot 986"; lower left, graphite: "Rubens"; lower right corner, graphite, modern hand: "4365".
Collector's mark: Recto: lower right, stamped in black: Prosper Henry Lankrink (L.2090); lower left corner, stamped in black: Joseph van Haecken (L.2516); lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Joshua Reynolds (L.2364); lower right corner, stamped in black: Jonathan Richardson, the younger (L.2170). Mount (Richardson’s), Recto: lower centre, written in red: Jonathan Richardson, the younger (L.2997). Mount (Richardson’s), Verso: lower left corner, written in red: Sir Joshua Reynolds (L.3016a).
Inscription: Mount (Richardson’s), Recto: lower centre, red ink, Richardson the younger’s hand (L.2997): “Rubens.”. Mount (Richardson's), Verso: lower left corner, red ink, L.3016a (Joshua Reynolds's sale): "Lot 986"; lower left, graphite: "Rubens"; lower right corner, graphite, modern hand: "4365".
Collector's mark: Recto: lower right, stamped in black: Prosper Henry Lankrink (L.2090); lower left corner, stamped in black: Joseph van Haecken (L.2516); lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Joshua Reynolds (L.2364); lower right corner, stamped in black: Jonathan Richardson, the younger (L.2170). Mount (Richardson’s), Recto: lower centre, written in red: Jonathan Richardson, the younger (L.2997). Mount (Richardson’s), Verso: lower left corner, written in red: Sir Joshua Reynolds (L.3016a).
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