Attributed to Lucas Vorsterman (Zaltbommel 1595-1675 Antwerp)

A bust of Democritus, after Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Details

Attributed to Lucas Vorsterman (Zaltbommel 1595-1675 Antwerp)
A bust of Democritus, after Sir Peter Paul Rubens
pen and brown ink, indistinct watermark
11¼ x 8 7/8 in. (28.4 x 22.5 cm.)

Provenance

Gilbert Paignon-Dijonval, Paris; and by descent to his grandson
Vicomte Charles-Gilbert Morel de Vindé, Paris; from whom acquired in 1816 by S. Woodburn as agent for
Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445).
S. Woodburn.
An unidentified collector, his monogram 'VH' and date '31 March 1838'. C.S. Bale; Christie's, London, 9 June 1881, lot 2448.
Ludwig Burchard, in 1930, and by descent to the present owner.

Literature

M. Bénard, Cabinet de M. Paignon-Dijonval, Paris, 1810, p. 66, no. 1343.
G.F. Waagen, Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris, Berlin, 1837, I, p. 447, as 'Socrates'.
C. Schuckman, Hollstein's Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450-1700, Amsterdam, 1993, p. 101, under no. 106.
M. van der Meulen, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard. XXIII: Copies after the Antique, London, 1995, pp. 124-5, no. 111a.

Exhibited

London, The Lawrence Gallery, First Exhibition. A Catalogue of One Hundred Original Drawings by Sir P.P. Rubens, Collected by Sir Thomas Lawrence, May 1835, no. 36, as 'Socrates'.

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Lot Essay

In 1638 Rubens finalized his last archaeological project: a series of twelve prints depicting famous Greeks and Romans. This drawing is in the opposite sense to the engraving by Lucas Vorsterman representing Democritus. Rubens' original drawing and its iconographical source are both unknown. L. Burchard proposed that the present drawing was by Vorsterman, an opinion not shared by M. van der Meulen (op. cit.) who thought that it was by another engraver.

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