Where does the Kyivan Rubens come from

The Khanenko’s modello provenance as work in progress

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17721/2519-4801.2024.2.08

Keywords:

provenance research, Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painting, Ukrainian art collections, the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts, history of collecting, Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard.

Abstract

Purpose. This study is aimed to verify the conflicting versions of the Peter Paul Rubens modello «God of Scheldt, Cybele and the Goddess of Antwerp» (ca. 1615) provenance, and to compile the most complete documentary dossier for this artwork. 

Methods. During the research, we followed the provenance list published by Niels Buttner in 2018 step by step, and were looking to broaden and complete it. To do so, we analysed primary sources, namely annotated copies of auction catalogues and minutes of Parisian auctioneers from the late nineteenth century. In addition, to recreate the broader context of the work's existence, we used biographical and genealogical methods. 

Results. As a result, five new provenance lines were added to the nine, already established by Niels Buttner. In particular, the identity of the painting’s last owner before the Khanenkos was found, as well as the source of the misunderstanding that remained within the main hypothesis about the painting's arrival to the Khanenko collection. 

Conclusions. The research made it possible to recreate a rather complete ‘biography’ of the work: from the collector who owned it until 1781 to its entry to the Kyivan collection. We are now aware of the names and main life events of its previous owners, the geography of its movements, the changes in its market value, as well as variations in the interpretation of the painting's subject over almost two hundred years. Rubens's authorship has never been questioned, and therefore it is a rare example of a work, the attribution of which has remained unchanged since its documented appearance on the art market. Hopefully, the further research will allow us to complete the knowledge on the painting's origins: from its creation around 1615 to its entry into the collection of Claude-Florentin Solier, its first currently known owner.

Author Biography

  • Olga Apenko, Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts (Kyiv, Ukraine)

    Olga Apenko (Kurovets) leading research fellow at the department of studies and classification of museum data at the  Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National museum of Arts (Kyiv, Ukraine); she is specialised at the provenance research and early-modern European applied arts.

Published

2025-01-31

Issue

Section

Preservation of Cultural Heritage