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拍品专文
Christ Blessing the Children was a popular subject in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Flanders, painted by artists such as Jacob Jordaens and Adam van Noordt. The subject comes from the gospel story when mothers bring their children to be blessed by Christ and, despite the objections of his disciples, he welcomes them, saying ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’ (Matthew 19:13-14).
Several version of this painting by Frans Floris and his workshop are recorded. The first, of which the present location is unknown, is executed on panel and measures 168 x 212 cm, while the second, also on panel, but smaller (93 x 150 cm.), is now preserved in Old Economy Village, Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Although Van de Velde listed both of these in his catalogue raisonné on Floris, he considered the Old Economy Village version a workshop product, and withheld judgment on the authenticity of the other, known only from a photograph (C. Van de Velde, Frans Floris (1519⁄20-1570), Brussels, 1975, I, pp. 191-92, nos. 41-42; illustrated II, figs. 11 and 13). While the figural compositions are nearly identical in all three paintings, each differs in the details of the background, including architectural elements and secondary figural motifs. Van de Velde considered the composition relatively early in origin, datable to circa 1553-4.
Van de Velde also cited two copies on panel (Schloss Waidhofen-an-der-Thaya and the Grzimek collection, Friedrichshafen), as well as a drawing for the woman and child in the right foreground of the composition, executed in black and white chalk on blue paper (Rotterdam, Boymans van Beuningen Museum; 27.3 x 28.7 cm.; ibid., p. 191).
Another painting by Floris and his workshop, executed on an oval panel (38 x 42 inches), was most recently sold at Christie's in 2013 (Christie's, New York, 5 June 2013, lot 19). It depicts a nearly identical central grouping of Christ, the twelve Apostles and the mothers and children. In this version, in order to accommodate the oval format, the figures are slightly compressed relative to the larger rectangular pictures. The oval panel also bears Charles I's collection mark on its verso.
In his 1604 biography of Floris, van Mander mentions that he saw 'in Amsterdam, with Jan van Endt, art lover at the Dam... a fine large picture which represents Christ calling the children and blessing them. There are splendid faces in this picture; the women wear strange costumes and wrappings; sweet, round-faced children, and other subjects appear.' (see C. Van Mander, Het Leven der Doorluchtighe Nederlandtsche en Hooghduytsche Schilders, 1604; New York, 1969 ed., p. 187). Which of the three large rectangular versions van Mander actually saw in Amsterdam cannot be determined, nor can any of these be securely identified as the 'I groot stuck van Frans Floris daer on Heer de kinderkens tot hem roept' which the Antwerp dealer Gilliam I Forchondt sent to his sons in Vienna in 1670 (see Van de Velde, op. cit., p. 191).
Several version of this painting by Frans Floris and his workshop are recorded. The first, of which the present location is unknown, is executed on panel and measures 168 x 212 cm, while the second, also on panel, but smaller (93 x 150 cm.), is now preserved in Old Economy Village, Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Although Van de Velde listed both of these in his catalogue raisonné on Floris, he considered the Old Economy Village version a workshop product, and withheld judgment on the authenticity of the other, known only from a photograph (C. Van de Velde, Frans Floris (1519⁄20-1570), Brussels, 1975, I, pp. 191-92, nos. 41-42; illustrated II, figs. 11 and 13). While the figural compositions are nearly identical in all three paintings, each differs in the details of the background, including architectural elements and secondary figural motifs. Van de Velde considered the composition relatively early in origin, datable to circa 1553-4.
Van de Velde also cited two copies on panel (Schloss Waidhofen-an-der-Thaya and the Grzimek collection, Friedrichshafen), as well as a drawing for the woman and child in the right foreground of the composition, executed in black and white chalk on blue paper (Rotterdam, Boymans van Beuningen Museum; 27.3 x 28.7 cm.; ibid., p. 191).
Another painting by Floris and his workshop, executed on an oval panel (38 x 42 inches), was most recently sold at Christie's in 2013 (Christie's, New York, 5 June 2013, lot 19). It depicts a nearly identical central grouping of Christ, the twelve Apostles and the mothers and children. In this version, in order to accommodate the oval format, the figures are slightly compressed relative to the larger rectangular pictures. The oval panel also bears Charles I's collection mark on its verso.
In his 1604 biography of Floris, van Mander mentions that he saw 'in Amsterdam, with Jan van Endt, art lover at the Dam... a fine large picture which represents Christ calling the children and blessing them. There are splendid faces in this picture; the women wear strange costumes and wrappings; sweet, round-faced children, and other subjects appear.' (see C. Van Mander, Het Leven der Doorluchtighe Nederlandtsche en Hooghduytsche Schilders, 1604; New York, 1969 ed., p. 187). Which of the three large rectangular versions van Mander actually saw in Amsterdam cannot be determined, nor can any of these be securely identified as the 'I groot stuck van Frans Floris daer on Heer de kinderkens tot hem roept' which the Antwerp dealer Gilliam I Forchondt sent to his sons in Vienna in 1670 (see Van de Velde, op. cit., p. 191).