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| Artist | Attributed to after Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish painter and draftsman, 1577-1640) |
| Previous attributions | Previously attributed to school of Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish painter and draftsman, 1577-1640) Previously attributed to Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish painter and draftsman, 1577-1640) |
| Title | Virgin and Child |
| Alternative/previous titles | Possibly Portrait of Rubens' Wife and Child |
| Date earliest | possibly about 1640 |
| Date latest | possibly about 1700 |
| Material | oil on panel |
| Measurements | 90.5 x 69.8 cm |
| Description | This Virgin and Child is painted in the style of Rubens. The composition and the poses of the figures are borrowed from works by the renowned Flemish artist who painted many images of the Holy Family. Here the Virgin and Child fill almost the entire composition. As though momentarily distracted, the Child turns from his mother's breast to look at the viewer. Certain anatomical weaknesses, such as the Virgin's clumsily rendered left hand, are far from the brilliant ease and grace of Rubens' original paintings. |
| Subject | religion (Virgin and Child) |
| Collection | Holburne Museum of Art, Bath |
| Current accession number | A256 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed by Miss Mary Anne Barbara Holburne 1882. |
| Provenance | Sir Thomas William Holburne, by 1867-74; by descent to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882), 1874. |
| Principal publications | Catalogue of the Pictures and Library, Engravings, Etchings and Miniatures Belonging to Sir Thomas William Holburne, Bart., Bath, 1867, cat. no. 117, p. 6, as by Rubens; Chaffers, W., Catalogue of the Holburne of Menstrie Art Museum Bath, London, 1887, cat. no. 1436, p. 71, as by Rubens; Moeckler, F., Holburne of Menstrie Art Museum, Bath, 1902, cat. no. 44[?], p. 2, as Portrait of Rubens' Wife and Child by Rubens; Catalogue, Pictures and Miniatures, I, 1927, cat. no. 12a, as Virgin and Child by School of Rubens, after Rubens; The Holburne of Menstrie Museum, Catalogue, Pictures, I, Bath 1936, cat. no. 11, p. 8, as Virgin and Child by School of Rubens, after Rubens; Wright, C., Old Master Paintings in Britain: An Index of Continental Old Master Paintings Executed before c. 1800 in Public Collections in the United Kingdom, London, 1976, p. 177. |
| Notes | T. W. Holburne's seal on reverse. T. W. Holburne's label on reverse, inscribed in ink: 'Madonna and Child / by / Rubens'. Attributed by Mr Alec Martin to School of Rubens; H. A. Buttery rejected the attribution to Rubens, and described A256 as 'not genuine. Fairly good school [of Rubens] picture', 1906. |
| Rights status | © The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath |
| Author | Dr Susan Steer |
