These small oil sketches by Van Dyck were probably painted around 1630. They derive from similar studies by Rubens, and would have been used in Van Dyck's studio as models for equestrian portraits or historical and religious pictures.
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Title:A Man Mounting a Horse
Artist:Attributed to Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, Antwerp 1599–1641 London)
Date:ca. 1630
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:10 x 8 3/4 in. (25.4 x 22.2 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried Bieber, 1949
Object Number:49.145.2
Reichsprobst Grafen von Beroldingen, Hildesheim (estate sale, shortly before 1831; sold to Hausmann); Bernhard David Hausmann, Hanover (by 1831–57; cat., 1831, no. 98 or 99); George V, King of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and 2nd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1857–d. 1878; cat., 1857, nos. 98, 99 [with The Met 49.145.1]); his son, Ernest Augustus, de jure King of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (1878–d. 1923; deposited at Provinzial-Museum, Hanover, by 1902–probably 1925); his son, Ernest Augustus, Reigning Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1923–25; sold to Cassirer); [Cassirer, Berlin, 1925]; Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried Bieber, Switzerland and New York (1925–49)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flemish Drawings and Prints," September 19–November 12, 1989, no catalogue.
B[ernhard]. Hausmann. Verzeichniss der Hausmann'schen Gemählde-Sammlung in Hannover. Braunschweig, 1831, p. V n. 3, p. 52, nos. 98 and 99 [with MMA 49.145.1], as "Attituden-Skizzen" by Van Dyck, recently acquired from the sale of the estate of Reichsprobst Grafen von Beroldingen, Hildesheim.
Verzeichniss der von Seiner Majestät dem Könige angekauften Hausmann'schen Gemälde-Sammlung in Hannover. Hanover, 1857, p. 13, nos. 98, 99 [with MMA 49.145.1], as by Van Dyck.
G. Parthey. Deutscher Bildersaal. Vol. 1, A–K. Berlin, 1863, p. 392, nos. 24, 25 [with MMA 49.145.1], as "Zwei Reiterstellungen," attributed to Van Dyck.
O[skar]. Eisenmann inKatalog der zum Ressort der Königlichen Verwaltungs-Kommission gehörigen Sammlung . . . im Provinzial-Museumsgebäude . . . zu Hannover. Hanover, 1891, p. 102, no. 128, as after Van Dyck.
Oskar Eisenmann inKatalog der zur Fideicommiss-Galerie des Gesamthauses Braunschweig und Lüneburg gehörigen Sammlung von Gemälden und Skulpturen im Provinzial-Museum . . . zu Hannover. Hanover, 1902, p. 102, no. 128.
Oskar Eisenmann and W. Köhler. Katalog der zur Fideikommiss-Galerie des Gesamthauses Braunschweig und Lüneburg . . . im Provinzial-Museum. Ed. Dr. Reimers. Hanover, 1905, p. 50, no. 101.
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 32.
Erik Larsen. L'opera completa di Van Dyck. Milan, 1980, vol. 2, p. 93, no. 581, ill. p. 92, as by Van Dyck; dates it between 1626 and 1632.
Walter A. Liedtke. Flemish Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1984, vol. 1, pp. 84–90; vol. 2, pl. 36, catalogues this and MMA 49.145.1 as "Attributed to Van Dyck," supporting the association with the artist through numerous stylistic comparisons.
Walter A. Liedtke. "Anthony van Dyck." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 42 (Winter 1984/85), pp. 32, 34–35, fig. 31 (color).
Walter A. Liedtke. "Flemish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum—II: Van Dyck, Jordaens, Brouwer, and Others." Tableau 6 (February 15, 1984), pp. 30–31, 33 n. 16, fig. 9.
Erik Larsen. The Paintings of Anthony van Dyck. Freren, Germany, 1988, vol. 1, p. 476; vol. 2, p. 297, no. 751, ill.
Walter Liedtke. The Royal Horse and Rider: Painting, Sculpture, and Horsemanship, 1500–1800. New York, 1989, pp. 232, 264–65, pl. 135, ascribes it to Van Dyck, probably about 1630, and notes that such panels were probably used as models for equestrian portraits and similar subjects.
C[arl]. Depauw inRondom Rubens: tekeningen en prenten uit eigen verzameling. Exh. cat., Stedelijk Prentenkabinet. Antwerp, 1991, pp. 102–3, fig. 9a, mentions two recent verbal opinions by Julius Held and Christopher Brown which may question the attribution to Van Dyck.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 289, ill.
Walter Liedtke. "Toward a New Edition of Flemish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Munuscula Amicorum: Contributions on Rubens and His Colleagues in Honour of Hans Vlieghe. Ed. Katlijne van der Stighelen. Vol. 2, Turnhout, Belgium, 2006, pp. 675, 677 n. 25.
Christopher White. The Later Flemish Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. London, 2007, p. 255, under no. 69.
Old Master Paintings, Part I. Christie's, New York. January 25, 2012, p. 44, under no. 15.
This small oil sketch and A Man Riding a Horse (49.145.1) are rarely discussed in the Van Dyck literature, but Jaffé 1960, Millar 1964, and Held 1983 have defended the old attribution to Van Dyck. His authorship is supported by the examination of a number of oil sketches and drawings of certain attribution that contain horses (see Liedtke 1984). These sketches may have been made with an equestrian portrait of a prince or commander in mind. The depiction of a model, rather than the actual sitter for the finished painting, in compositional sketches such as these, conforms to the usual practice of Van Dyck and Rubens.
After Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, Antwerp 1599–1641 London)
n.d.
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