1564 - Gorinchem - Utrecht - 1651
Signed and dated: A.Bloemaert.fe. 1632
Robert Hampden Trevor, British Minister at The Hague from 1734 -
1746, later first Viscount Hampden, bequeathed to his brother,
The Bishop Trevor of St Davids and Durham, bequeathed to
The Diocese of Durham, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland by 1834
sold by order of the Diocese of Durham Sotheby Dec. 1972
Baronne Bich, 1982
Colnaghi, London 1984
Valentin Tatransky, 1984, Art International XXVII p.61
Pieter J J van Thiel, Semiolus, (Netherlands quarterly of the History of Art), No. 20. "Catholic elements in seventeenth-century Dutch painting,...." p.56, Fig.8, 1990/1991
C.Dancherts c.1635 (but see also note 3b. below)
The life of Abraham Bloemaert is well documented; he is mentioned in van Mander, Sandrart and Houbracken and all relevant modern literature. Nicolson (1) says tersely "...the leading Utrecht artist of the last mannerist generation".
This important large altarpiece shows the four Fathers of the Latin Church discussing the Doctrine of the Eucharist. They are from left to right Sts. Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose and Gregory the Great. An altarpiece of the Last Supper is fittingly placed behind the monstrance, while the sacred text from the Old Testament is held aloft by putti beneath the Paraclete. Biographical details of the Fathers are given in a folio sheet bottom right. The composition derives ultimately from Raphael's fresco of the 'Disputation of the Eucharist' in the Vatican and from a larger altarpiece of the same subject by Rubens (2), which Bloemaert, who knew Rubens well, would surely have known.
Assuming that the wash drawing (3a) and Cornelis Bloemaert print dated 1629 (3b) precede the present picture, it may be noted that the painting is the only painted version which is signed and dated; that the cartouche of biographical information about the holy fathers is in Dutch not Latin (suggesting a commission for a church in the Netherlands maybe in Utrecht or s'Hertongbosch), the 'podesta' on which St Gregory sits has been covered with a fine Antwerp tapestry table carpet embellished with brightly coloured fruit and flowers and the two angels in the print, the— drawing and the two other other paintings are reaced by nine typical Bloemaert putti.
In addition to the table carpet it is interesting that St. Augustine wears a cope of fine Venetian brocaded silk the design of which is after an early Brussa velvet (4) and St Gregory wears a Gothic brocaded velvet cope.
1. B Nicolson 'Caravaggism in Europe', 2nd ed. 1989 Vol.I, p.64
2. St Paul's, Antwerp painted in 1609. 309 x 241.5 cm. see for instance M Jaffe 1989 'Rubens' Rizzoli No. 88, p.105
3. The other known representations are:
3a. A fine brown-wash and gouache drawing. This is almost identical to the print by Cornelis Bloemaert (3b) and may well be the actual model for it. Sold by Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 28.11.1989 Lot 98. from the collections of Ploos van Amstel,1800, and Saportas, Amsterdam 1834.
3b. An engraving by Cornelis Bloemaert, dated 1629, dedicated by Abraham Bloemaert to Duke Gundaker von Liechtenstein (5). The dedication addresses him as the Duke of Silesia and Chamberlain in Chief of the Emperor Ferdinand II, around the coat of Arms of the Dukes of Liechtenstein (together with a lengthy subscription in Latin). The print follows the preparatory drawing (3a.); Hollstein 1949, Vol.II, Nr 66. An example is in Oudann Collection, Rotterdam.
3c. A seventeenth century copy or studio version is cited by Knipping (6) and Bernsmann (4) in St Paul's Church in Cologne and measures 250 x 180 cm. but it was only donated to the church in 1934. The church itself had been rebuilt just before the first World War to replace an earlier one destroyed at the end of the nineteenth century (7). The church was destroyed again during the second World War and the much damaged picture restored in 1984.
3d. a very poor and probably late copy on panel, of horizontal format, in the "Museum voor Religieuze Kunst" at te Uden, 82 x 62 cm.
It seems likely that both c & d are after the Cornelis (b) print since they show two angels rather than putti holding the Testament and the podesta without the carpet.
4. W Bernsmann 1984 Praktikum 'Restaurierung des Gem„ldes "Disputa..." in der Pfarrkirche St Paul, K"ln' The cope of St Augustine, which was made for Bishop David of Burgundy, is now in the Rijksmuseum Het Catherijne-Convent Utrecht.
5. 'Im Lichte Hollands', 1987, Exhibition, Museum Basel p.28
6. J B Knipping. 1974, 'Iconography of the Counter Reform-ation in the Netherlands' Nieuwkoop, Leiden p.307 fig 291.
7. G L M Dani‰ls 1989, Rotterdam. Personal Communication.
8. A related painting of similar size but 'landscape' format depicting 'The Four Evangelists writing the Gospels' recently appeared on the market (Christies New York, 31.5.91 # 51). Though it shares several features with the present picture it is less formal in composition; the figures show more movement and each is accompanied, somewhat curiously by his life size and realistic attribute. It has been dated in the 1620's.
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