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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
This oil sketch, one of Rubens’s finest, is a preparatory study for a tapestry now in a convent in Madrid. The artist first laid out the main elements of the composition with brown paint (notice the contours of the woman’s arm in the lower right corner) and then enlivened the work with vibrant colors. Here Rubens exalts the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist (the miraculous transformation of wine into the blood of Christ) by depicting the Jewish sacrifice of a lamb on an altar, at left, as a foreshadowing of Christ’s own 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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