Lot 8
  • 8

Abraham Bloemaert

Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 EUR
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Description

  • Abraham Bloemaert
  • Roman Charity
  • oil on canvas, en grisaille

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Paris, Paillet, 17 May 1774, lot 120;
Prince the Conti, Paris;
His sale, Paris, Remy, 8 April 1777, lot 796, for 80 francs, to Brisson;
E.A.E. sale, The Hague, Van Marle & Bignell, 21 November 1923, lot 24; 
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Mak, 17 December 1929, lot 4 (as signed);
Anonymous sale, The Hague, Van Marle & Bignell, 15 March 1976, lot 16.


 

Literature

M.G. Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert and his sons. Paintings and prints, Doornspijk 1993, vol. I, pp. 151-2, cat. no. 110-1.

Condition

The actual painting is a lot warmer in tone and shows less contrast than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas has a rather stiff relining, which has slightly flattened the paint surface. Otherwise, the paint surface seems to be in good condition. There is a tiny fleck of paint loss along the right edge. A few discoloured retouchings, possibly relating to older paint losses, can be observed along the upper and right edges, in the background centre left and upper right, in the man's back and in the woman's shoulder and draperies. The paint surface is covered with a slightly dirty, shiny layer of varnish. The craquelure pattern is very fine and dense. Inspection under ultra violet light confirms the aforesaid retouchings, and reveals additional tiny retouchings in the background, along the edges and in the man's chest and woman's breast. Offered in a decorative wood frame with carved moulded borders, and a red painted inner border, in good condition. (MW)
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This painting is a smaller version en grisaille, of the large, signed, capital painting by Abraham Bloemaert of Cimon and Pero, which is in the Kunsthalle, Kiel, and which can be dated circa 1610 (see fig.1).1

The frequently illustrated story of Cimon and Pero has its origins in Greek, Roman and Etruscan myths and was recorded by ancient Roman historian Valerius Maximus in his Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium (book IX:4). The incarcerated Cimon was condemned to death by starvation. His devoted daughter Pero, who had just given birth, saves her father from starvation by secretly nourishing him at her own breast. She was caught in the act by the jailor, but it was Pero's selfless act of filial devotion that impressed the officials and wins her father's release. The subject, also known as Roman Charity, became very popular among artists from the 16th Century onwards. The subject was depicted several times in Utrecht, among others by Dirck van Baburen and Paulus Moreelse, who all used a prototype of composition apparently derived from a Roman fresco from Pompei, in which all the basic compositional elements were present, and which very likely was to have been discovered at the beginning of the early 17th Century.2
Bloemaert, however, chose a very different type of composition for his representation of Roman Charity. In contrast with his contemporaries, most of whom preferred the horizontal composition in which the half naked, suffering Cimon is fully exposed and his battered face is clearly visible, Bloemaert chose a vertical composition which emphasised the seated woman, showing comparatively little of the aged man, but highlighting the softness of the woman in her face as well as in her pose. The mannerist handling of the figures softens any harshness of the subject depicted. By his choice of poses Bloemaert minimizes any physical contact, so that in his treatment of the theme, the somewhat awkward subject remains utterly discrete.

At least three elaborate preparatory drawings are known,3 which reveal Bloemaert's invention and exploration of a thematic problem. A drawing from an early stage in the formulation of the final composition, which was sold in these Rooms, 5 November 2002, lot 6, shows less physical restraint. A drawing in the A. Normand Collection in Paris, of equal size as the present grisaille, seems to be the final compositional basis for the painting in Kiel. According to Bolten the Normand drawing, although squared for transfer, looks like an independent end product.4 This makes it more than likely that this grisaille was an independent end product of its own, for Bloemaert did paint grisailles.

1. See Roethlisberger under Literature, p. 151.
2. See L.J. Slatkes, Dirck van Baburen. A Dutch painter in Utrecht and Rome, Utrecht 1965, pp. 81-3.
3. J. Bolten, Abraham Bloemaert c. 1565 - 1651. The Drawings, Leiden 2007, vol. I, pp. 207-8, cat. nos. 591-3, reproduced vol. II, p. 270.
4. op. cit., vol. I, p. 208, cat. no. 593.