Meleager and Atalanta, or The Calydonian Boar Hunt (modello)
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
before 1628
this site may contain automatically translated text
This pair of oil sketches (GE 75 und GE 84) are the final preparatory studies for two now lost canvases, which 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 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). In view of the circumstance that one of Rubens’s principal associates was the animal specialist Frans Snyders, it is tempting to suppose he must 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 that he was able to add autograph final touches to their productions. The other was that he made oil sketches such as the present works, 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. In fact, however, the artful cropping of forms at the sides of the compositions and the way they respectively move from left to right and right to left creates a real sense of variety.
- Material/technique
- oil on oak panel, cradled
- Measurements
- 24.2 × 61.9 cm
- Acquisition
- acquired in 1999 by Prince Hans-Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein
- Artists/makers/authors
- Sir Peter Paul Rubens
- Inventory number
- GE 75
- 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
- Meleager and Atalante
Arnout Balis, Hunting Scenes (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, XVIII), Bd. II, London–New York 1986, S. 187, Nr. 12a, Abb. 82
J.S. Held, The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens. A Critical Catalogue, Bd. I, Bd. Bd. I, Princeton 1980, S. 340-341, Nr. 251, Bd. II, Abb. 273
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 u. 157, Abb. 32
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. 93
A. Vergara, Rubens and His Spanish Patrons, Cambridge 1999, S. 45-54
J. Hamberger, Schwarzwild in Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, in: LWF aktuell, Magazin für Wald, Wissenschaft und Praxis, Nr. 35 2002, S. 36, Abb. 2
Ausst.-Kat. Rubens in Wien. Die Meisterwerke. Die Gemälde in den Sammlungen des Fürsten von und zu Liechtenstein, des Kunsthistorischen Museums und der Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste, Johann Kräftner, Wilfried Seipel, Renate Trnek (Hg.), Liechtenstein Museum, Wien 5.12.2004–27.5.2005; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien 5.12.2004–6.3.2005; Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien, Wien 5.12.2004–27.5.2005, erschienen Wien 2004, S. 290-201, Kat. 74
Matias Diaz Padron, Sansón y el león, Madrid 2004, S. 113-115, Abb. 85
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.8, Abb. S. 207
Ausst.-Kat. Splendeurs des Collections du Prince de Liechtenstein / Splendours of the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Alexandra Hanzl, Kathrine Klopf-Weiss, Johann Kräftner, Brigitte Lackner, Michael Schweller, Arthur Stögmann, Johann Kräftner, Caroline Messensee (Hg.), Palais Lumière, Evian 4.6.2011–2.10.2011, erschienen Montreuil 2011, S. 75, Abb. S. 74
Ausst.-Kat. Masterworks from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), The National Art Center, Tokyo 3.10.2012–23.12.2012; The Museum of Art, Kochi 5.1.2013–7.3.2013; Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto 19.3.2013–9.6.2013, erschienen Tokyo 2012
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. 33
Ausst.-Kat. Rubens, Van Dyck and the Flemish School of Painting. Masterpieces from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein (Book Series for the National Museum of China International Exchange), Lu Zhangshen (Hg.), National Museum of China, Beijing 5.11.2013–15.2.2014, erschienen Beijing 2013, S. 33, 68, 71, 208, Abb. 71, Kat. 13
Ausst.-Kat. Rubens, Van Dyck and the Flemish School of Painting. Masterpieces from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Shi Dawei (Hg.), China Art Museum, Shanghai 12.3.2014–2.6.2014, erschienen Shanghai 2014, S. 113, S. 119, Kat.-Nr. 13
Ausst.-Kat. Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens... Meisterwerke der Flämischen Malerei aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von und zu Liechtenstein, Staatliches Museum für Bildende Künste A. S. Puschkin, Moskau 19.6.2014–19.10.2014, erschienen Wien–Moskau 2014, S. 272-275, Abb. 273, Kat. 44
Ausst.-Kat. Crown of the Alps. Masterworks from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, National Palace Museum, Taipei 17.4.2015–31.8.2015, erschienen Taipei City 2015, S. 194–195, Kat.-Nr. 66
Ausst.-Kat. Rubens and Other Masters. Paintings, Sculptures and Objects of the Prince of Liechtenstein, National Museum of Korea, Seoul 12.12.2015–10.4.2016, erschienen Seoul 2015, S. 233–234, Kat.-Nr. 57
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. 90
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. 158
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
