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Coronation of the Virgin
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)
about 1623
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel (cradled)
Dimensions
66 x 51.4 x 1.6 cm (26 x 20 1/4 x 5/8 in.)
Framed: 81.3 x 66.7 x 5.1 cm (32 x 26 1/4 x 2 in.)
Framed: 81.3 x 66.7 x 5.1 cm (32 x 26 1/4 x 2 in.)
Credit Line
Promised gift of Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession NumberL-R 81.2021
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
During his career, Rubens painted more than sixty altarpieces for Catholic churches, often to replace works destroyed by Protestants during the religious wars of the late 16th century. This sketch of the crowning of the Virgin Mary by her son Jesus and God the Father was made to help plan the high altar of the Franciscan church in Antwerp, in present-day Belgium. To inspire the viewer, Rubens used brilliant colors, billowing drapery, and expressive gestures. He creates a powerful illusion of the Virgin being lifted to the heavens by a divine force.
ProvenanceBy 1733, Andrea Gerini (b. 1691 - d. 1766), Florence [see note 1]; by descent to his great-nephew, Giovanni Gerini (b. 1770 - d. 1825), Florence; December 1, 1825, Gerini sale, Palazzo Gerini, Florence, lot 300. 1835, sold by Henri Héris (dealer), Brussels, sold to Désiré van den Schrieck (b. 1786 - d. 1857), Louvain [see note 2]; April 8, 1861, posthumous Désiré van den Schrieck sale, Le Roy-van Bockel, Louvain, lot 90, sold for fr. 2,000 to Schriek’s son-in-law, François Schollaert (b. 1817 - d. 1879), Louvain; until 1925, his son-in-law, Georges (Joris) Helleputte (b. 1852 - d. 1925), Louvain [see note 3]. 1925, acquired by Mme. Charles Kreglinger, Antwerp [see note 4]; March 4, 1936, Mme. Charles Kreglinger sale, Le Roy, Brussels, lot 18, sold to E. Solvay, Brussels [see note 5]; until 2006, by descent within the family; July 6, 2006, anonymous ("Property of a European Family") sale, Christie’s, London, lot 23, sold to Adam Williams Fine Art, New York; January 2007, sold by Adam Williams to Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, Boston.
NOTES:
[1] Included in a Gerini inventory of September 30, 1733 (ASF, Gerini 5080), no. 313: "Quadro di mano di Rubens in tavola entrovi la Sma Trinità colla Madonna," framed, 1.7 by 1.2 braccia. See Martina Ingendaay, "La Collezione Gerini a Firenze: Documenti Inediti Relativi a Quadri, Disegni e Incisioni," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 51 (2007): p. 472. The painting was engraved by Carlo Faucci for the publication Raccolta di Stampe Rappresentanti i Quadri più Scelti dei SS. Marchesi Gerini di Firenze (1759).
[2] Max Rooses, L’Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens (Antwerp, 1888), vol. 2, p. 188.
[3] According to information in the 1936 Le Roy auction catalogue.
[4] According to David Freedberg, Rubens: The Life of Christ after the Passion, Corpus Rubinarium, vol. 7 (Oxford, 1984), p. 198, no. 47a, Charles Kreglinger (b. 1851 - d. 1904 or 1907) acquired the painting in 1925; however, he had passed away by that date.
[5] According to Michael Jaffé, Rubens: Catalogo Completo (Milan, 1989), no. 811, E. Solvay of Brussels bought the painting in 1936 and owned it until 1960. This may refer to collector Emile Tournay-Solvay, who however passed away in 1958.
NOTES:
[1] Included in a Gerini inventory of September 30, 1733 (ASF, Gerini 5080), no. 313: "Quadro di mano di Rubens in tavola entrovi la Sma Trinità colla Madonna," framed, 1.7 by 1.2 braccia. See Martina Ingendaay, "La Collezione Gerini a Firenze: Documenti Inediti Relativi a Quadri, Disegni e Incisioni," Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz 51 (2007): p. 472. The painting was engraved by Carlo Faucci for the publication Raccolta di Stampe Rappresentanti i Quadri più Scelti dei SS. Marchesi Gerini di Firenze (1759).
[2] Max Rooses, L’Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens (Antwerp, 1888), vol. 2, p. 188.
[3] According to information in the 1936 Le Roy auction catalogue.
[4] According to David Freedberg, Rubens: The Life of Christ after the Passion, Corpus Rubinarium, vol. 7 (Oxford, 1984), p. 198, no. 47a, Charles Kreglinger (b. 1851 - d. 1904 or 1907) acquired the painting in 1925; however, he had passed away by that date.
[5] According to Michael Jaffé, Rubens: Catalogo Completo (Milan, 1989), no. 811, E. Solvay of Brussels bought the painting in 1936 and owned it until 1960. This may refer to collector Emile Tournay-Solvay, who however passed away in 1958.