(Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp) and workshop; Statue of the Goddess Ceres in a Niche, oil on oak, 90.5 x 70 cm, framed,

An extensive certificate established by Prof. Dr. Justus Müller-Hofstede, Bonn, is available. Provenance: presumably Hermann Emden Collection, Hamburg; sale, R. Lepke, Berlin, 3 May 1910, lot 1579.

Literature: G. Hoet and P. Terwesten, Catalogues of naamlyst van schilderyen met derzelver prysen zeder den 22. Augusti 1752 tot den 21. November 1768, The Hague, 1770, p. 224, no. 30; M. Varshavskaya, Rubens‘ Paintings in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad 1975, pp. 87-93; also comp. M. Rooses, L‘Oeuvre Peint de Rubens, vol. III, p. 67; R. Oldenbourg, Rubens, Des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart and Berlin 1921, fig. 83; L. Steinberg, „Rubens‘ Ceres in Leningrad“, in: Art News, 70, 1971, pp. 42/43.

Two other versions of Ceres adorned with putti are known, the first of which is preserved in the Hermitage in St Petersburg and was acquired by Catherine II in 1768 from the collection of the Counts of Cobenzl, while the second, an autograph variant probably executed with the participation of Frans Snyders as the author of the elaborate floral garland, was only recently identified and is now in the Beyeler Collection in Lucerne. The latter was first mentioned by Max Rooses, who had seen it in 1898 in the Philippi Collection in Hamburg. Our painting, the third version, is very likely identical with the painting from the Emden Collection, likewise in Hamburg. The two latter paintings have time and again been mistaken for one another. Until now it has not been possible to identify the version from the Gerard Hoet Collection, which was auctioned in The Hague in 1760 and could have been either the Lucerne painting or the present one. Compared to the Lucerne version in particular, the present painting is of a sketchier nature, so that several architectural elements have remained undefined. It might thus have been made before the Lucerne version and been retouched by the master after his workshop had outlined the composition on the basis of the more well-known Ceres at the Hermitage, which is generally accepted as the prototype version. Our painting dates from Rubens‘s Classicist phase. It is characterized by clear structures and impressively moulded figures. The cool colours and the focus on the canon of antique subjects were typical of the period in question. The Ceres in the Hermitage is generally dated to 1615, and the present replica seems to have been done soon afterwards. The focus is on the Hellenistic sculpture of Ceres, which Rubens had seen in the Borghese Collection in Rome. The statue is shown placed in a niche that is reminiscent of the arched gate in Rubens‘s Antwerp house. In terms of iconography, Rubens refers to the rich tradition of scenes depicting sacrifices offered to Ceres. The connotation of the subject as an allegory of peace and the painting‘s time of origin around 1615 are in agreement with the twenty-year peace concluded between the Northern and the Spanish Netherlands. This phase of Netherlandish history was marked by economic prosperity and upswing, which may also account for the popularity of the subject of Ceres, the third version of which is being offered here. It seems to have been done for a private patron, as was the original St Petersburg version.

An extensive certificate established by Prof. Dr. Justus Müller-Hofstede, Bonn, is available. Provenance: presumably Hermann Emden Collection, Hamburg; sale, R. Lepke, Berlin, 3 May 1910, lot 1579. Literature: G. Hoet and P. Terwesten, Catalogues of naam