possibly Albert Rubens (1614-1657); bought by Captain Maurice Johnson, 1742/44 for his father, Maurice Johnson Sr., Spalding (1688-1755); by descent in Johnson and Marsden families; W.A. Marsden (book-plate, 1897); Christopher Marsden (bookplate, 1930); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 23-24 March, 1970, lot 179; purchased there via Maggs Bros. (London) by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978) (£2,600); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Rubens. The Power of Transformation, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, 17/10/2017-21/01/2018; Stadel Museum, Frankfurt, 08/02/2018-03/06/2018

Rubens. The Power of Transformation, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, 2017-18
cat. no. 28

van der Meulen, Marjorie, Rubens copies after the Antique (CRLB), 3 vols, London 1994
vol. I, p. 75, Appendix IX on pp. 250-53; vol. II, pp. 87, 105, 107
transcription and translation of 'De Pueris'

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, left centre edge, fragment: lower half of a foolscap with five points visible, above "4" above 3 Medici balls (matches Heawood 2002 - dated 1674 on a collection of Dutch paper in London).

Inscription: Recto: upper half of sheet, brown ink, transcription and translation from van der Meulen (CRLB) 1994, p. 251: “+ / DE PUERIS / Ex Statuarum exemplaribús semper optima eligenda, et / pro et pro [probably an eyeskip] exemplaribús cuiuscunque Aetatis imitanda súnt / veluti infantiae, cuius elegantissimúm Exemplar sunt genii / púeriles circa Nili et Tiberis statuas in hortis Vaticanis. Tere= / tes in sese, atque rotúndi, gestibús lacivis [sic], húmi reptantes, et mag= / nos patris artús, veluti montes scandentes. Quibis [sic] similes sunt / illi qúi ad Tiberis Statuam, ibidem a Lupa Lactantúr. / Tum aetas paúlo grandior, sed tamen adhúc Infantulis / exhi= / bita est ab antiqúis,in cúpidine dormiente super strata / pelle Leonis, cum face ad levam. / Eo maior est in puero juxta Ledam ubi cum Cÿgno colluc= / tatur, et in hercule serpentes o[p]primente in cunis. / Denique paulo robústior aetas in puero caestibús púgnante / Graeculo / Hi omnes diversi, infantiae tamen obesitatibús non depo= / sitis pueri, conspiciúntur Romae in marmoribus Anti= / qúis.“ [W hen taking statues [of Antiquity] as models the best ones should always be selected and imitated as models of the different ages concerned— infancy, say, of which the nicest example is provided by the 'putti' on the statue of the Nile and of the Tiber in the Vatican Gardens. 'Self contained in their smooth rotundity' they are playful in their gestures, crawling on the ground and clambering over the massive limbs of their father as if they were mountains. Similar to these are the ones next to the Tiber statue in the same place, being suckled by the she-wolf. Next a slightly more advanced age, but still that of a baby, was illustrated by the ancients in the Cupid sleeping on an outspread lionskin, with a torch in his left hand. A later stage than this is shown in the boy next to Leda where he is struggling with the swan, and in the Hercules crushing the serpents in his cradle. Finally, a somewhat more substantial age is represented in the little Greek boy fighting with boxing-gloves. All these children of different kinds, yet still possessing the chubbiness of infancy, can be seen in ancient marbles in Rome]; right of centre, graphite: “x. vide / 174.a.“; lower right corner, graphite, folio number: “100“.