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Lot Essay
EIGHT FULLY AUTOGRAPH VERSIONS of this composition are recorded by Klaus Ertz in his monograph on the artist (op. cit., pp. 392-5), including the paintings in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, and the Deutsches Brotmuseum, Ulm. Each of these eight versions is signed (with the possible exception of a picture in Lisbon, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, op. cit., no. E378) but none are dated. Pieter the Younger returned to this subject throughout his career, making secure dating of these works difficult; indeed the only broad indication of date is believed to be the artist's change of signature from 'P. BRVEGHEL' to 'P. BREVGHEL' in 1616, placing the work in the latter period.
The composition derives from an engraving, probably by Philip Galle, which in turn is based on the 1559 drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen; fig. 1). Pieter Brueghel the Younger's paintings of this subject are, for the most part, very faithful to the engraving and follow the same orientation. Significantly, however, the central figure of Charity in both of the primary sources has been excluded in the paintings. In the original scheme, a personification of Charity stands with a pelican on her head, the symbol of motherly love, and a flaming heart in her hand, the symbol of Christian love. Her position in the paintings is taken instead by an elderly woman in rags, holding onto a child. Other changes include the omission of the belt and the bunches of faggots on the platform lower left (in the drawing).
It would appear, in fact, that most of Pieter the Younger's alterations tend towards a less austere tone than that achieved by his father. Ertz points out that the individualised faces, the contemporary ragged clothing, the leafy trees in the background and the bright palette add warmth to the scene that is characteristic of Pieter the Younger (Ertz, Breughel -- Brueghel, exhibition catalogue, Antwerp, 1998, pp. 306-7), and was presumably more suitable to the market at the time. This New Testament subject derives from Matthew, 25:35-36, 'For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me'. By tradition the seventh (and final) act of mercy, not listed in this passage, is the burial of the dead. The Seven Acts are faithfully depicted here: (clockwise from lower left) feeding the hungry; visiting the imprisoned; relieving the thirsty; burying the dead; giving shelter to the homeless; caring for the sick; and clothing the naked.
The composition derives from an engraving, probably by Philip Galle, which in turn is based on the 1559 drawing by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen; fig. 1). Pieter Brueghel the Younger's paintings of this subject are, for the most part, very faithful to the engraving and follow the same orientation. Significantly, however, the central figure of Charity in both of the primary sources has been excluded in the paintings. In the original scheme, a personification of Charity stands with a pelican on her head, the symbol of motherly love, and a flaming heart in her hand, the symbol of Christian love. Her position in the paintings is taken instead by an elderly woman in rags, holding onto a child. Other changes include the omission of the belt and the bunches of faggots on the platform lower left (in the drawing).
It would appear, in fact, that most of Pieter the Younger's alterations tend towards a less austere tone than that achieved by his father. Ertz points out that the individualised faces, the contemporary ragged clothing, the leafy trees in the background and the bright palette add warmth to the scene that is characteristic of Pieter the Younger (Ertz, Breughel -- Brueghel, exhibition catalogue, Antwerp, 1998, pp. 306-7), and was presumably more suitable to the market at the time. This New Testament subject derives from Matthew, 25:35-36, 'For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me'. By tradition the seventh (and final) act of mercy, not listed in this passage, is the burial of the dead. The Seven Acts are faithfully depicted here: (clockwise from lower left) feeding the hungry; visiting the imprisoned; relieving the thirsty; burying the dead; giving shelter to the homeless; caring for the sick; and clothing the naked.