Diana's Hunt (modello)
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
c. 1628
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The pair of oil sketches ‘Meleager and Atalanta’ (GE 75) and ‘Diana’s Hunt’ (GE 84) are the final preparatory studies, or ‘modelli’, for two canvases (now lost) that were taken to Madrid by Rubens himself in 1628 and delivered in person to King Philip IV of Spain. They are both described in an inventory of the Alcázar Palace in 1636, where Rubens is named as their author, but they must undoubtedly have involved a considerable measure of workshop intervention, not least on account of their dimensions (a copy of one of them suggests they were over four metres wide). Given that the animal specialist Frans Snyders was amongst Rubens’s principal associates, he may well have played a considerable part in their execution.
One of the reasons why Rubens was able to delegate to his assistants was that they were talented artists in their own right, and he was able to add autograph final touches to their productions. Another precondition was that he made oil sketches in which absolute compositional lucidity was combined with thrillingly vibrant execution. In this case, the pairing of the two classical hunts – Meleager and Atalanta’s pursuit of the Calydonian Boar, and an unspecified stag hunt by Diana (the goddess of the chase) and her nymphs – made obvious sense, but could have risked monotony in the hands of a lesser artist. Here, however, a real sense of variety is created by the artful cropping of forms at the sides of the compositions and the fact of their moving in opposite directions.
- Material/technique
- oil on oak panel, cradled
- Measurements
- 24.4 × 61.7 cm
- Acquisition
- acquired in 1999 by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein
- Artists/makers/authors
- Sir Peter Paul Rubens
- Inventory number
- GE 84
- Provenance
- Until 1937 in the collection of the Dukes of Coburg-Gotha, Vienna; 1939 Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna; private collection, Switzerland; private property, Vienna; acquired in 1999 by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein from private property in Vienna.
- Iconography
- Hunting of Diana
Arnout Balis, Hunting Scenes (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, XVIII), Bd. II, London–New York 1986, S. 181, 184, Anm. 23, S. 187, 189, 191, Anm. 15, S. 192, Nr. 13a, Abb. 87
Julius S. Held, The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens. A Critical Catalogue (Kress Foundation Studies in the History of European Art, 7), Bd. I, Princeton 1980, S. 324-325, Nr. 237, Bd. II, Abb. 274
A. Balis, "Rubens Jachttaferelen: Bedenkingen bij een onderzoek," in: Academiae Analecta. Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen 1986, S. 127
S. Orso, Philip IV and the Decoration of the Alcazár of Madrid, Princeton 1986, S. 56-57, Abb. 33
Hella Robels, Frans Snyders. Stilleben- und Tiermaler, 1579-1657, München 1989, S. 376
A. Vergara, Ausst.-Kat. El Arte en la Corte de los Archiduques Alberto de Austria e Isabel Clara Eugenia (1598-1633). Un Reino Imaginado, Madrid 1999, S. 276-277, Kat. 94
A. Vergara, Rubens and His Spanish Patrons, Cambridge 1999, S. 45-54
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Matias Diaz Padron, Sansón y el león, Madrid 2004, S. 113-115, Abb. 86
Ausst.-Kat. Der Fürst als Sammler. Neuerwerbungen unter Hans-Adam II. von und zu Liechtenstein, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), Liechtenstein Museum, Wien 12.2.2010–24.8.2010, erschienen Wien 2010, S. 36–39, Kat.-Nr. 9, Abb. S. 207
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Ausst.-Kat. Princely Treasures from the House of Liechtenstein, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore 27.6.2013–29.9.2013, erschienen Singapore 2013, S. 94, Abb. 95, Kat. 34
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Ausst.-Kat. Liechtenstein. Die Fürstlichen Sammlungen, Regula Berger, Matthias Frehner und Rainer Lawicki (Hg.), Kunstmuseum, Bern 12.11.2016–19.3.2017, erschienen München 2016, S. 153, 163, Kat.-Nr. 89
Ausst.-Kat. Distant Prospects.
European Landscape Paintings from LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi 26.2.2019–25.3.2019, erschienen Abu Dhabi 2019, Abb. S. 159
Ausst.-Kat. Passion. Bilder von der Jagd, Peter Egloff und Stephan Kunz (Hg.), Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur 22.6.–27.10.2019, erschienen Zurich 2019, Abb. S. 134
