0137
Circle of Anthonis Van Dyck
(Antwerpen 1599 - 1641 London)
„The Apostle Paul“
oil on panel; parqueted
66 x 51 cm
Provenance
George Roche, Jeffersontown, Kentucky;
Newhouse Galleries Incorporated, New York, no. 60301 (as Anthonis van Dyck, 26 x 20 inch; according to the label on the reverse);
private property, Vienna
Exhibition
1965 Brüssel, Le Siècle de Rubens, no. 56
Literature
Gustav Glück, Rubens, van Dyck und ihr Kreis, Vienna 1933, note 288;
Leo van Puyvelde, in: Revue belge d‘archéologie et d'histoire de l'art, vol. III, 1933, p. 193-214;
Leo van Puyvelde, Van Dyck, Paris/Brussels 1959, p. 22;
Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (ed.), Le siècle de Rubens, exhibition catalogue, Brussels 1965, p. 58, no. 56 b/w-ill. (as Anthonis van Dyck; partly different dimensions: 60 x 51 cm);
Erik Larsen, The paintings of Anthony van Dyck, vol. II, Freren 1988, p. 87, no. 190 (as Anthonis van Dyck; partly different dimensions: 60 x 51 cm);
Margaret Roland, Some thoughts on van Dyck's Apostle Series, in: Revue d'Art Canadienne, vol. 10, p. 33 ("as copy");
Susan J. Barns, Nora de Poorter, Oliver Millar, Horst Vey, Van Dyck. A complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven 2004, p. 73, no. I.59, under 2)
Estimate: € 15.000 - 30.000
Auction is closed.
The compositional model for the present painting is the Apostle Paul by Anthonis van Dyck in the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover (64 x 51 cm; inv. no. PAM 992). This portrait was part of a series of twelve half-length depictions of the apostles, which are located in various international museums and institutions today.
The bearded apostle Paul is depicted with the sword as his attribute, almost as a warrior and defender of the Christian faith, with a piercing gaze. The reared head of hair with the strands laid over the forehead is also shown here. Van Dyck and his workshop used the model of the half-length apostle several times. A depiction of the bearded Paul from van Dyck's workshop is also in the holdings of the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Aschaffenburg (inv. no. 1505). All representations have in common the concise image detail, the close-up view and the darkness from which the disciple emerges. Striking fingers play around the shiny sword, expressive eyes look into the distance, lost in thought.