Rubens's 'Samson and Delilah' in the National Gallery: new facts relating to its provenance

• Autores: Carolien De Staelen
• Localización: Burlington magazine, ISSN 0007-6287, Vol. 146, Nº 1216, 2004, págs. 467-469
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The writer discusses what recent research in the archives of the Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp, has revealed about the provenance of Rubens's Samson and Delilah, purchased in 1980 by the National Gallery, London. On the basis of the available information, he concludes that the painting at the National Gallery can be traced to Liechtenstein and, ultimately, back to the 1655 inventory of Maria de Sweerdt's possessions, where the panel is described as a copy after Rubens. Records show that the burgomaster Nicolaes Rockox acquired a painting by Rubens depicting Samson and Delilah, and that, when he died, he left all his possessions to the city of Antwerp, who sold them at auction. The writer states that the important question of whether the National Gallery painting is the same piece that appeared in the Rockox sale of 1641 cannot be answered unequivocally.