Jan Brueghel the Elder

Signed and dated BRVEGHEL 1594

Provenance:

Private collection, Italia.

Sometimes called Christ Crucified in the Gospels, describing the ninth hour of the crucifixion of Christ and two...

Signed and dated BRVEGHEL 1594

Provenance:

Private collection, Italia.

Sometimes called Christ Crucified in the Gospels, describing the ninth hour of the crucifixion of Christ and two thieves, this hitherto unseen work by Jan ‘Velvet’ Brueghel compares with this master’s finest known paintings. And quite rightly so: we can feel the incredible dramatic tension among the crowd gathered in this sublime landscape, where nature alone conveys the grief of this episode from the New Testament.

This work, which has been in the possession of a great Italian princely family since its creation, is the perfect synthesis of Jan Brueghel's art. Catholic, courtly and a familiar face in the high society of his day, he went to stay in Italy in 1589, first with the Colonna family and then with the future pope, Cardinal Federico Borromeo. Dated 1594, at a time when he had already been in Rome for two years, this copper perhaps draws inspiration from one of his father's models.  In fact, this is highly likely. Unfortunately, no painting of this subject by Brueghel the Elder exists today and only two notes evoke the possibility of a paternal model: in his Res Pictoriae, Buchelius (1583-1639) mentions having seen a Calvary by Pieter the Elder, dated 1559, at the house of the collector Bartholomeus Ferreris, in Leiden, and an old inventory from the collection of H. Bartels from 1672 lists a crucifixion[1]. The first argument seems highly probable while the second one is more questionable: 150 florins is very cheap for the time for a painting by a master! It is therefore more likely to be a work by Pieter the Younger. In fact, there are fourteen different versions of this theme in the oeuvre of the latter, who was the brother of Jan the Elder. And yet nothing leads us to believe that the two brothers copied each other; it is more likely that they followed a common model by their father. In fact, there are several similarities between our painting and the Calvary by Pieter, kept in the sacristy of the Church of Saint Séverin in Paris.

Two other versions of Jan’s work support our opinion. An earlier painting than ours by Jan the Elder, dated 1595, is kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna[2]. It includes numerous elements from our version. The group in the foreground is identical: servants are fighting over Christ’s cloak. The two guards in red and blue are standing in the same position, while a cavalier carrying a heavy basket on his back is watching the three men fighting on the ground. Furthermore, this confrontation appears to foreshadow the peasant brawls portrayed by Adrian Brower. Also present is the motif of the horseman dressed in yellow, positioned on his mount looking at Christ on his cross. In our version, however, he is carrying the clearly visible standard of the Habsburg family whereas no flag is seen flapping in the wind in the Viennese version. Finally, in the background, melting into the blue, we can perceive a fortress resembling a citadel, representing Jerusalem: it is on the right in the copper in Vienna and on the left in ours. The only real difference in the narration of the episode is that in our version, the three crosses are fixed in place, whereas in the Viennese version, the left-hand cross for the thief is in the process of being erected. We can see the executioners hurrying and supporting the cross in order to put it up. Of all the versions similar to ours, whether they are by Jan or Pieter, none of them show the three crosses fixed firmly in place except for ours. Did Jan choose to move away from the paternal model in this first work? It is true that Jan had a far more independent character with regard to his father than his brother, who wasn’t really the source of pure invention.  Finally, the cold tones of green and blue make us automatically think of Paul Bril, with whom our painter travelled around Italy. The influence of this romanist can unquestionably be seen in this landscape, where the dramatic tension is increased tenfold by the choice and contrasts of colours. 

The construction in horizontal planes is also the fruit of Joachim Patenier’s influence. This natural amphitheatre, stretching to the sides of the rocky peaks, is also present in a second painting similar to our Crucifixion. The Calvary in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich[3] is a later work, circa 1598, executed in Antwerp. It has clearly been influenced by the two previous versions, ours and the one in Vienna, but also by Dürer, especially his drawing of the Great Calvary dated 1505, which belonged to Rudolf II (Uffizi, Florence), many copies of which were in circulation in Italy during the 16^th century. A version painted in 1604, depicting an almost identical copy of Dürer’s engraving, also exists in the Uffizi in Florence. The composition is much denser than in our version, and the mention of the master engraver is significant. Hence, Jan differentiates himself in this large version of his father’s invention and refers to the drawing he knows. Finally, there is another representation of this theme in quite another register, since it is a brilliant demonstration of Jan Brueghel the Elder's talent as a miniaturist[4]. A small oval painting that is part of a group of five, three of which are by our artist, that were designed to decorate a font. Here we find the crowd of figures gathered around Christ carrying his cross.

One thing is certain, Jan must have had his father's drawings with him in Italy to have been able to produce our version. He takes the decision to position the group of Holy Women in the foreground on the right, with the Virgin sitting in the middle; at their feet are the remains of a charnel house. On the other side, five naked men seem to be sucked into the ground, while a human skeleton lies not far from them.  This group, a motif which is resolutely rubenesque, acts as a repoussoir, opening onto Golgotha.

The great quality of this copper cannot fail to move the viewer. It is the manifesto of an artist who has reached maturity through his trip to Italy and whose work is commissioned by the great patrons and collectors.  In a remarkable state of conservation, this work with its astonishingly beautiful landscape and variety of characters is a unique biblical masterpiece by Jan Brueghel.

1568 Brussels - Antwerp 1625

Jan Brueghel the Elder, also called Velvet Brueghel owing to the attractiveness of his range of colors, was the son of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and the brother of...