The first great altarpiece Rubens painted after his return from Italy was The Descent from the Cross, commissioned in 1611 for the chapel of the arquebusiers in the Antwerp Cathedral. The triptych was dedicated to Saint Christopher, the guild's patron saint, and the theme was the carrying of Christ. This early study is for the inside right wing, where it is Simeon, the high priest, who carries the infant Christ. Rubens used bold pen strokes to block out and then make changes in the positions of the figures; in the final painting, which is still in the cathedral at Antwerp, Rubens changed the places of Simeon and the prophetess Anna.
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Title:Presentation in the Temple
Artist:Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
Date:n.d.
Medium:Pen, brush and brown ink on pale tan paper; reverse, black chalk and brown ink
Dimensions:Sheet: 8 7/16 x 5 9/16 in. (21.4 x 14.2 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Janos Scholz, 1952
Accession Number:52.214.3
Inscription: Upper right verso in pencil: Van Dyck
János Scholz (Hungarian)
Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame. "Janos Scholz, Musician and Collector," 1980.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flemish Drawings and Prints," September 19–November 12, 1989.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "Flemish Drawings in the Age of Rubens: Selected works from American collections," October 15, 1993 - February 20, 1994.
Wellesley College Art Museum, Wellesley, Massachusetts. "Flemish Drawings in the Age of Rubens: Selected works from American collections," October 15, 1993 - February 20, 1994.
Davis Museum and Cultural Center. "Flemish Drawings in the Age of Rubens: Selected works from American collections," October 15, 1993 - February 20, 1994.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," November 27, 1995–February 25, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," May 5–September 14, 1998.
Vienna. Graphische Sammlung Albertina. "Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640): The Drawings," September 15–December 5, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640): The Drawings," January 14–April 3, 2005.
Otto Benesch "Beiträge zum Werk des Rubens." in Alte und Neue Kunst (Wiener Kunstwissenschaftlicher Blatter). vol. 3, 1954, fig. no. 1, pp. 8-19, ill.
Michael Jaffé "Un chef-d'oeuvre mieux connu." in L'Oeil. 43-44,. 1958, cf. p. 19, fig. no. p.18, p. 20, ill.
Julius S. Held Rubens: Selected Drawings. Phaidon Press, London, 1959, vol II pl. 34, cat. no. 28, fig. no. 49, 50, p. 105, ill.
Michael Jaffé Rubens and Italy. Oxford, 1977, fig. no. 188, 189, pp. 52, 57, ill.
Julius S. Held Rubens Selected Drawings. 2nd edition (revised). Oxford, 1986, and mentioned under nos. 71 and 14, pl. 73 on p.197, cat. no. 72, fig. no. 73, pp. 70, 97, 98, ill.
Anne Marie Logan, Michiel C. Plomp, Dr. Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Heinz Widauer Peter Paul Rubens. Exh. cat., Albertina, Vienna, Sept. 15 - Dec. 5, 2004 (also see New York, 2005). Dr. Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Heinz Widauer, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna, 2004, pp. 28, 34, 57, 60-61, 88, 112, cat. no. 24, pp. 196-201, ill.
Anne Marie Logan, Michiel C. Plomp Peter Paul Rubens: The Drawings. Exh. cat.: January 15 - April 3, 2005; also Albertina, Vienna, 2004. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005, pp. 22, 25, 40, 55, 118, 142, 162, cat. no. 30, pp. 130-132, ill.
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The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
