"Quellinus, Rubens 'First Lieutenant' (English version), Tendencias del mercado del Arte, (Jan 2020), pp. 72-75

Fig. 1. Erasmus Quellinus. The Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist. Oil on canvas, 106 x 86 cm. London, private collection Quellinus, Rubens’ ‘First Lieutenant’ At a distance from Rubens' exuberance, Erasmus Quellinus cultivated a greater classical expression of Baroque than his master. A remarkable example of which is this unpublished Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist that we can include to his production. Jahel Sanzsalazar since 1636 on the canvases of the Torre de la Parada, executing several paintings from the series that are today present at the Prado Museum3. In 1639 Erasmus Quellinus was in charge of drawing the frontispiece for the Hierarchia Mariana of Father Bartolomé de los Ríos4. And under the direction of Rubens, at the beginning of 1640, Quellinus drew a Portrait of the CountDuke of Olivares, following the well-known model of Diego Velázquez, to illustrate Liudprand of Cremona’s Chronicon, which was commissioned to Moretus by the Spanish humanist Lorenzo Ramírez de Prado5. In the latter part of Rubens life, Erasmus II Quellinus (Antwerp, 1607-1678) conquers the place of first assistant that Anthony Van Dyck had occupied years before. Rubens entrusts Quellinus with both large-scale canvases and sketches or models, with the intention of reproducing them as engravings, granting him special freedom to translate his ideas1. We know that in the early 1630s Quellinus produced models of the Achilles series for the printer Baltasar Moretus. In 1635 he actively participated in the Pompa Introitus Ferdinandi, the decorations for the Entrance of the Cardinal-Infant Ferdinand of Austria into Antwerp 2 and, 72 Fig. 2. Erasmus Quellinus. Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist. Oil on canvas, 97 x 83 cm. Brussels, Cathderal of St Michael and Ste Gudule Fig. 3. Erasmus Quellinus. Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist. Oil on canvas, 120 x 100 cm. Madrid, Lazaro Galdiano Museum Fig. 4. Peter Paul Rubens. Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist and St Elizabeth. Oil on canvas, 151 x 113 cm. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, on loan in Cataluña Museum of Art to the painter's own collection and was wrongly attributed to Gerard de Lairesse. More recently, on a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, the present author detected Quellinus’ hand in the figures of a Diana hunting with her nymphs, a work made in collaboration with the animal specialist Jan Fyt, news that the local press echoed11. The overwhelming evidence supports this unpublished Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist (oil on canvas, 106 x 86 cm. Fig. 1) as by the hand of Quellinus, a work closely aligned to other paintings of the same subject known from his production. It is a traditional scene in Christian devotion that takes place during the flight into Egypt. The Virgin rests with the Child Jesus on her lap, in the company of the little Saint John the Baptist. Quellinus disposes Jesus turning his head to look at the Virgin, while Saint John comes to hug him. It is an image loaded with piety and tenderness. The painter not only translates the affection that unites the two cousins; he focuses particularly on the sadness of Maria who, with her lowered and interiorised gaze, presages the tragic future of her son. The two children turn their eyes to her, and express, with their attentive gaze, compassion for her suffering. The comparison with several known works by Quellinus endorses the restitution of this forgotten painting to him. The closest version is in the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint Gudule in Brussels (fig. 2) 12 . The position of the protagonists is the same. The physiognomy of the Virgin varies slightly and, above all, the decorative elements. Instead of the wood of the humble shed that serves as the background to the scene in the Brussels version, Quellinus paints here classical columns of stone ashlars - very typical in his repertoire -, thus suggesting a noble portico, with a rich vegetation of grape leaves. These pilasters symbolize the strength of the Virgin who, solid and vertical like them, accepts her fate with stoic dignity. Quellinus also introduced them in the very comparable version in the Lázaro Galdiano museum in Madrid (fig. 3) 13 , with an analogous background of classical architecture but with differences in the attitude and expression of the characters. The Virgin's clothing and posture vary, with the right hand on the shoulder of the little Jesus, who carries a cross in his hand, while Saint John approaches in a prayer position. This painting, which Lázaro Galdiano acquired in Paris probably between 1936 and 1940, is considered one of the most important Flemish pieces of his collection. Quellinus would ultimately be the heir to Rubens' clientele upon his death in 1640. A letter from the Cardinal-Infant Ferdinand of Austria to his brother the King of Spain Philip the IV is significant in that regard. Ten days after Rubens died, leaving four canvases unfinished for the Spanish King, Ferdinand proposes to his brother that they be executed by the "First Lieutenant" (‘primer oficial’) of Rubens, who, he says, "did most of the works of his master" and who was, along with Gaspar de Crayer, the only one who could be trusted6. Quellinus will be in charge of the decorative works on the occasion of the death of the Spanish infant Baltasar Carlos (1647). When Philip IV died in 1665, Quellinus designed the burning chapel in honour of the monarch in Antwerp cathedral (1665) 7 . Today we know its appearance thanks to the engraving by Lucas Vorsterman published the following year by Gaspar Gevartius8 . For this ensemble Quellinus painted several panels, over two meters high, which were still partially preserved in Antwerp before the First World War. He depicted various female figures dressed in mourning, allegories of Abundance, Faith, the Austrian Monarchy, Clemency, Force, Temperance, Freedom, Mercy and Justice. These are some of the examples that demonstrate that, although Quellinus did not travel to Spain or to Italy, his ties with our country were not few. Apart from his works that came from royal collecting, others came from the art trade, since his production was also destined for export. Correspondence with dealers Forchondt and Musson proves his relationship to this art market. Quellinus’ name appears repeatedly in the accounts of these merchants who had subsidiaries in Spain. It was probably through this route that the copperplates (121 x 146 cm) of the convent of Comendadoras de Santiago in Madrid arrived, a series of eight paintings dedicated to the life of the Virgin, of which the Annunciation and the Presentation of Jesus in the temple are signed by Quellinus, the others are by Willem van Herp and Anton Gouwau9. The essence of Quellinus' work is known from the studies of Francine Claire Legrand, Marie Louise Hairs, Hans Vlieghe, Matías Díaz Padrón and Jean-Pierre de Bruyn, the latter author of the catalogue raisonné on the painter published in 1988, and co-curator of the monographic exhibition dedicated to Quellinus in the French museum of Cassel in 201410. A few years ago the present author added to Quellinus’ catalogue the discovery of a painting with Jupiter and Callisto in Spain, which had belonged 73 As Jean-Pierre de Bruyn points out when dealing with the two known versions, these compositions have the style of Quellinus' early career, around 1635, when contact with Peter Paul Rubens was more intense. Indeed, in Rubens’ Virgin with the Child, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth in the Thyssen Bornemisza collection (fig. 4)14, the same dynamic appears, with Jesus turning his head towards his mother. It is a composition that Quellinus copies practically literally in the Holy Family with Saint John and an angel from the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City (inv. F47-9) and which he introduces in a Garland of flowers signed by Jan van Kessel in 164915. In the Holy Family with Saint Anne in the Prado16, a composition by Rubens from around 1630 that was widely disclosed through the engravings by Paul Pontius, Alexander Voet, and Schelte A. Bolswert (fig. 5) 17 , we see the analogous position of the hand of the Virgin taking the little foot of the Child. These are the same resources that Quellinus materialises in another painting, now lost and only known through an engraving by Pieter de Jode, including the presence of Saint Elizabeth (fig. 6). The position of Jesus is very similar, with the face turned towards his mother. Also the face of the Virgin is alike, in profile, with the head directed downwards, and the sad and self-absorbed gaze. As for the figure of little Saint John, while in the engraving he approaches the Child timidly pushed by Saint Elizabeth, the canvas in question shows him embracing his cousin without modesty. Intimacy and emotional strength are emphasised in this new Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, with the embrace, the caress and the gaze as notes of tenderness. This deeply rooted in Christian piety subject must have given Erasmus Quellinus success, judging by the different versions he executed while introducing variants, as well as from the existing copies. One of them is in the church of Saint Andrew in Antwerp wrongly attributed to the Van Dyck’s school (fig. 7) 18 . It is a copy of considerable quality - perhaps the work of the workshop –, which copies the original version in Brussels Cathedral. In the Belgian cloister of the black sisters of Aalst there is an identical copy in composition but very poor in quality (fig. 8) 19 . Another one, the work of a follower who introduces slight variations, is in the Hospital of Saint John in Damme (fig. 9) 20. Both are dependent on the original in question. We do not know which of the originals by Quellinus is the one that decorated the living room of his residence in Antwerp. An “Our Lady, with Jesus and Saint John the Baptist of Erasmus Quellinus” (“Een Ons Lieve Vrow, een Jesus ende Sint Jan, Erasmus Quellinus”) was registered in the inventory of his collection, on his death in 1670 21 , with no further data that facilitate identification. In 1808 the Belgian dealer Lambert Jan Nieuwenhuys (1777-1862) sold in Paris a painting coming from Brussels, which description could correspond to this one 22 , but the poverty of data makes a positive identification impossible. Fig. 5. Schelte A. Bolszert after Rubens. Holy Family with St. Anne. Engraving. Fig. 6. Pieter de Jode after Quellinus. Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist and St Elizabeth. Engraving. 74 Close contact with Rubens explains Quellinus’ inspiration in his master's compositions. Like most of his contemporaries, Quellinus did not escape Rubens’ influence, but he developed his own style, which is characterized by a more classical and calm tendency that distances him from the Baroque exuberance of his master. As most of Quellinus’ works, this new Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist evidences his fine handling of the brushstrokes, his care for execution, the use of a subtle colouring and a chiaroscuro that enhances the volume of the forms. The monumentality and the plasticity that we perceive are undoubtedly due to his contact with sculpture, since Quellinus belongs to a family of important sculptors, a taste that is also reflected in his splendid collection. His inventory reveals that he possessed of Rubens several Virgins, both in painting and in sketches, which could have been the starting point for works like this one. The inclination for architecture manifested here is remembered in the inscription of Quellinus Self-portrait engraved by Pieter de Jode II, where it is also noted that he was a philosopher before being a painter. The content of the books that made up his library confirms indeed that Quellinus was a true pictor doctus, as he had, among others, treatises on music, anatomy, perspective, numismatics and pharmacopoeia, reflecting his multiple interests and his extensive and eclectic culture. Fig. 7. After Quellinus. Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist. Oil on canvas, 96 x 76,5 cm. Antwerp, St Andrew’s Church H. Vlieghe, “Erasmus Quellinus and Rubens’s Studio Practice”, The Burlington Magazine 119, nr 894 (Sept., 1977): 636. 2 J. R. Martin, The Decorations of the Pompa Introtius Ferdinandi. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, XVI, Bruxelles-London, 1972. 3 S. Alpers, The Decoration of the Torre de la Parada. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, IX, Bruxelles, 1971: no. 8, 8a, 12, 12a; 21, 21a, 34, 34a; M. Díaz Padrón, “Un lienzo de Erasmo Quellinus en el Museo del Prado : Psiquis y el Amor dormido”, Revue Belge d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de l’Art, XXXVIII, 1969, Bruxelles, 1971: 99-105; M. Díaz Padrón and A. Padrón Mérida, El Siglo de Rubens en el Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1995, II: 830-843, nos. 1718, 1628 a 1633. 4 M. Rooses and Ch. Ruelens, Correspondance de Rubens et documents épistolaires concernant sa vie et ses œuvres, Anvers, 1887-1909, VI, 231. 5 Antwerp, Museum Plantin-Moretus, inv. MPM.TEK.396. Moretus refers to the portrait in a letter to Philippe Chifflet, 12.01.1640 (Rooses and Ruelens, VI: 248-249; J. Richard Judson and C. Van de Velde, Rubens Book Illustrations and Tittle-pages, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, XXI, London-Philadelphia, 1978, II: 491, doc. 130; 505, doc. 10). 6 Rooses and Ruelens, VI: 304-305. 7 J. Denucé, “Filips IV, Koning van Spanje en zijn cenotaphium te Antwerpen in 1665, door Erasmus Quellien”, Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor 1 Fig. 8. After Quellinus. Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist. Oil on canvas, 97 x 73 cm. Aalst, Cloister of the Black Sisters Fig. 9. After Quellinus. Virgin and Child with St John the Baptist. Oil on canvas, 115 x 95 cm. Damme, Hospital of St John Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, IV, AntwerpenUtrecht, 1942; J.P. De Bruyn, “Officiële opdrachten aan Erasmus II Quellinus”, Jaarboek van het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1983: 246-252. 8 G. Gervartius, Monumentum Sepulchrale, Sive Inscriptiones tumili, Philippo IV Regi Catholico in solemnibus eiusdem exequiis a S.P.Q Antverpiensi in æde cathedrali erecti XVIII. decemb. M.DC.LXV, Anvers, Plantin Moretus, 1666. 9 M. Díaz Padrón, La pintura flamenca en España en el siglo XVII, Ms. Doctorial Diss., 1976, II: 643, figs. 200, 201; Idem, “Obras de Guillaume van Herp en España”, Archivo Español de Arte 200, 1977: 375; J. A. Sánchez Rivera, “Sobre una serie de cobres flamencos de pintores en la estela de Rubens”, Anales de historia del arte, 2011: 483-505. 10 J. P. De Bruyn, Erasmus Quellinus (1607-1678). De schilderijen met catalogue raisonné, Freren, 1988 ; J.P. de Bruyn and S. Vézillier-Dussart (dir.), Érasme Quellin dans le sillage de Rubens (1607-1678), exh. cat. Cassel (Musée de Flandre, 2014). 11 J. Sanzsalazar, '"Los amores de Júpiter y Calisto": una nueva pintura de Erasmus Quellinus en Palma de Mallorca', Goya 312, 2006: 155-158; E. Lagar, “Erasmus Quellinus, el pintor escondido detrás de una diosa del Museo de Bellas Artes”, La Nueva España, siglo XXI, 2.12.2018: 11. 12 Oil on canvas, 97 x 83 cm. Brussels, Cathédral St Michel et Ste Gudule. Cliché Kik-irpa: X132578. De Bruyn, in Cassel 2014: 66. 13 75 Oil on canvas, 120 x 100 cm. Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Inv. 08061. Díaz Padrón 1976, II: 643 ; J. P. De Bruyn, « Erasmus II Quellinus (1607-1678). Addenda en Corrigenda IV », Jaarboek Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1997: 418-419; M. Díaz Padrón, “Un lienzo de Erasmus Quellinus en el Museo Lázaro Galdiano”, Goya. Revista de Arte 280, 2001: 46-48 ; C. Laffon, in Cassel 2014, n° 1.5. 14 Oil on canvas, 151 x 113 cm. Barcelona, Col. Thyssen-Bornemisza, on loan in Museo de Arte de Cataluña. 15 De Bruyn 1988, cats. 4, 117. 16 Oil on canvas, 115 x 90 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado, inv. 1639. Díaz Padrón and Padrón Mérida 1995, II: 868-871. 17 F.W.H. Hollstein, Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700, Amsterdam, 1949, 22.I; 7.I; 188.I. 18 Oil on canvas, 96 x 76,5 cm. Antwerpen, Kerk Sint-Andries. Cliché Kik-irpa : B038520 (School van Van Dyck). 19 Oil on canvas, 97 x 73 cm. Aalst, Klooster van de Zwartzusters. Cliché Kik-irpa : B111228 (anonymous). 20 Oil on canvas, 115 x 95 cm. Damme, Sint-Janshospitaal. Cliché Kik-irpa : B146309 (anonymous). 21 De Bruyn 1988, p. 315. 22 “Erasme Quellyn. Jésus assis sur les genoux de sa mère, et recevant d'un air de sa satisfaction les caresses du jeune St Jean” (Apportés de l'Etranger par M. Nieuwenhuys, de Bruxelles, Paris (Masson), 7.11.1808, lot 27 (102 fr. a Dargon).