Point of View #28
Jupiter and Mercury with Philemon and Baucis from the Rubens Workshop
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Front matter
pp. 1–3 Download (PDF, 9,3 MB)
Jupiter and Mercury with Philemon and Baucis from the Rubens Workshop
Gerlinde Gruber
pp. 4–14 Download (PDF, 26,3 MB)
Abstract
The canvas painting Jupiter and Mercury with Philemon and Baucis is a good example of Rubens’s workshop production and the methods of attribution that have varied greatly throughout the years. For contemporaries it was an original painting by Rubens, in the eighteenth century the painting was attributed to Jacques Jordaens, later it was again considered to be largely by Rubens’s own hand. It is now attributed to the Rubens workshop. The sitter’s hair lacks Rubensʼs energetic brushstrokes; the drapery is somewhat simpler and less voluminous. Typical of the workshop is the use of study heads, so-called tronies, as in the Viennese painting for the face of Baucis.
The Restorer’s Point of View
Michael Odlozil
pp. 15–16 Download (PDF, 6,5 MB)
Abstract
The last restoration dates back several decades. The varnish has taken on a slightly grayish hue, and certain areas have become difficult to discern due to localized, darkened retouches. Faced with numerous changes visible in the infrared reflectography between the execution and the underlying painted sketch, the question arises whether this painting is truly a mere replica from the workshop. The observations lean towards the notion that a workshop member, using an oil sketch by Rubens as a template, might have crafted the Vienna painting.
A Rubens Assistant: Jan van den Hoecke
Gerlinde Gruber
pp. 17–19 Download (PDF, 11,1 MB)
Abstract
The infrared reflectography suggests that the Viennese painting was made directly after Rubensʼ oil sketch, by an assistant. This could be Jan van den Hoecke, but in view of the attribution practice of the time and the fact that we still know too little about the assistants in the Rubens workshop, this cannot be answered conclusively.
Acknowledgements, Photography Credits, Colophon
p. 20 Download (PDF, 64 KB)
Authors
Gerlinde Gruber
Gerlinde Gruber studied art history and Romance studies at the University of Vienna. She has worked in the Picture Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 2001 and is the curator for Flemish paintings.
Michael Odlozil
Michael Odlozil (b.1972 in Vienna) studied Conservation and Restoration at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Since 1999 he works as a conservator at the Picture Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
