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God the Father

Drawing
ca.1628-9 (drawn), late 16th century - early 17th century (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Rubens, Peter Paul (artist)
Place of origin
Southern Netherlands (drawn)

God the Father; heavily draped and reclining on clouds, and supported by the globe over which he stretches his left arm, while he raises his right hand in benediction; Black chalk and oil colour, heightened with white and ruled in for copying. The top corners cut off; Inscribed with a spurious signature, Taddius Zuccarus.; Possibly a study for the figure of God in 'Fall of the Angels' or 'Holy Trinity' at Munich.

Object details

Category
Drawings
Object type
Drawing
TitleGod the Father (published title)
Materials and techniques
black chalk and oil colour, heightened with white and ruled in for copying
Paper
Black Chalk
Oil Colour
Drawing (Image-Making)
Heightened
Squaring (Transferring Technique)
Brief description
Drawing, God the Father; by Peter Paul Rubens (reworking of drawing by anonymous late sixteenth-century Italian artist); Black chalk and oil colour, heightened with white and ruled in for copying; Possibly a study for the figure of God in 'Fall of the Angels' or 'Holy Trinity' in Munich; Flemish School; c.1628-9
Physical description
God the Father; heavily draped and reclining on clouds, and supported by the globe over which he stretches his left arm, while he raises his right hand in benediction; Black chalk and oil colour, heightened with white and ruled in for copying. The top corners cut off; Inscribed with a spurious signature, Taddius Zuccarus.; Possibly a study for the figure of God in 'Fall of the Angels' or 'Holy Trinity' at Munich.
Dimensions
  • Height: 410mm
  • Width: 370mm
Style
Flemish School
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed with a spurious signature, Taddius Zuccarus.
Gallery label
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) (reworking of drawing by anonymous late 16th-century Italian artist)
God the Father
1628–29

Rubens reworked around 200 drawings by other artists. Here he applied dark wash and white bodycolour to create a sense of volume and strong directional light. Rubens may have reworked drawings to challenge his inventiveness or as inspiration for his paintings. Depictions of God the Father were common in the Catholic art of the Southern Netherlands and Rubens included similar figures in several of his paintings.

Southern Netherlands

Black chalk, squared for transfer; reworked with brown ink and white bodycolour on paper
Bequeathed by the Rev. Alexander Dyce, 1869
Museum no. Dyce.514
Credit line
Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce
Object history
Jan van der Does, Heer van Bergesteyn (c.1635?–1704);5 Valerius Röver (1686–1739), Delft; by descent to his wife, Cornelia Röver-van der Dussen (1689–1762); sold through Henrik de Leth, Amsterdam, on 22 January 1761, to Jonkheer Johann Goll van Franckenstein the elder (1722–85), Velsen; Charles Rogers (1711–84), London (L. 624), his sale, London, Thomas Philipe, 15ff. April 1799, lot 574: ‘RUBENS ... on the drawing of Taddeo Zuccaro’; Rev. Alexander Dyce (1798–1869), London (L. 711 bis), by whom bequeathed to the museum (L. Suppl. 153b), 1869.

Possibly a study for the figure of God in 'Fall of the Angels' or 'Holy Trinity' at Munich.

Subjects depicted
Man
Beard
God
Bibliographic references
  • DYCE COLLECTION. A Catalogue of the Paintings, Miniatures, Drawings, Engravings, Rings and Miscellaneous Objects Bequeathed by The Reverend Alexander Dyce. London : South Kensington Museum, 1874.
  • Jane Shoaf Turner and Christopher White, Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2014), vol. II, cat. 529, pp.457-59
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
DYCE.514

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1069262/god-the-father-drawing-rubens-peter-paul/
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