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| Artist | After Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish painter and draftsman, 1577-1640) |
| Title | Battle of the Amazons |
| Date earliest | about 1615 |
| Date latest | possibly 1650 |
| Material | oil on canvas |
| Measurements | 61.2 x 82.7 cm |
| Description | This is a fine copy of one of Rubens’ masterpieces, now in Munich. Note the well painted details such as the helmets and the horses’ eyes. It shows the battle between the Amazons and the Athenians on the Thermoden bridge. On the left the Amazon Queen, wearing peacock feathers, fights King Theseus who holds a lance. The central motif of the fighting men and women on the bridge demonstrates Rubens' ability to produce images full of dramatic movement and contrast. Engravings were made of this popular painting as early as 1623 and several other good copies also exist. |
| Subject | literature (Plutarch Theseus; military and war (Athenians, Amazons) |
| Collection | Calderdale MBC Libraries, Museums and Arts |
| Current accession number | 1941.18/94 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed to Bankfield Museum, Halifax, by Mr R. E. Nicholson through his executor John Nicolson, 1941. |
| Provenance | Henry Raphael Oddy; by descent to Oddy's brother-in-law R. E. Nicholson, 1907. |
| Notes | Reverse on stretcher cr label 'Lot 117'; on canvas ur black paint 749/6'; on stretcher ur blue chalk '207' circled, '20[7 or 9?]'; on canvas ur and cc Bankfield Museum inv. no. Canvas re-lined three times, top canvas very open weave. In accession register listed as 'after Rubens?' 'an early copy'. The work is a copy of Rubens Battle of the Amazons, about 1615, oil on panel, 121 x 165, Munich, Alte Pinacothek, inv. no. 742. See Max Rooses L'Oeuvre de P. P. Rubens, 5 vols, Soest, 1977, vol. 3, pp. 51-54, for a detailed description of the subject and a list of old copies. See also http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/theseus.html for the story in Plutarch. See 1941.18/84 for further information on the donor and provenance. |
| Rights status | Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council Museums and Arts |
| Author | Dr Phillippa Plock |
