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Rubens’s oil sketch is a study for one of twenty tapestries commissioned by the archduchess Isabella, Spanish ruler of the Southern Netherlands, for a convent in Madrid. It depicts a biblical scene in which the High Priest of the Israelites sacrifices a lamb upon the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. In the foreground, figures ascend the steps bearing animals intended for sacrifice. The tapestry cycle was dedicated to the Eucharist—a Christian sacrament in which bread and wine are ritually transformed into the body and blood of Christ. In this context, the offering of the lamb foreshadows Jesus’s sacrifice.
The Sacrifice of the Old Covenant
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)
about 1626
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
70.5 x 87.6 cm (27 3/4 x 34 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of William A. Coolidge
Accession Number1985.839
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Rubens’s oil sketch is a study for one of twenty tapestries commissioned by the archduchess Isabella, Spanish ruler of the Southern Netherlands, for a convent in Madrid. It depicts a biblical scene in which the High Priest of the Israelites sacrifices a lamb upon the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. In the foreground, figures ascend the steps bearing animals intended for sacrifice. The tapestry cycle was dedicated to the Eucharist—a Christian sacrament in which bread and wine are ritually transformed into the body and blood of Christ. In this context, the offering of the lamb foreshadows Jesus’s sacrifice.
ProvenanceElector Palatine (?) [see note 1]. Robert Spencer (b. 1611 - d. 1702), 2nd Earl of Sunderland, Althorp, Brington, Northamptonshire; by descent within the family to Albert Edward John Spencer (b. 1892 - d. 1975), 7th Earl of Spencer, Althorp; sold by Spencer to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London; 1961, sold by Agnew to William A. Coolidge (b. 1901 - d. 1992), Topsfield and Cambridge, MA; 1985, gift of William A. Coolidge to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 27, 1985)
NOTES:
[1] Nora de Poorter, "The Eucharist Series," vol. 1, Corpus Rubenianum series (London and Philadelphia, 1978), p. 318, notes that the provenance can be securely traced back to Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, "who bought many paintings on the continent to adorn his home at Althorp," and that while it is said to have come from the collection of the Elector Palatine, this has never been verified. See, for example, "Exhibition of Pictures from the Althorp Collection" (exh. cat. Agnew, London, February-March, 1947), cat. no. 15.
NOTES:
[1] Nora de Poorter, "The Eucharist Series," vol. 1, Corpus Rubenianum series (London and Philadelphia, 1978), p. 318, notes that the provenance can be securely traced back to Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, "who bought many paintings on the continent to adorn his home at Althorp," and that while it is said to have come from the collection of the Elector Palatine, this has never been verified. See, for example, "Exhibition of Pictures from the Althorp Collection" (exh. cat. Agnew, London, February-March, 1947), cat. no. 15.
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