Christ and the Adulteress (Bruegel)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christ and the Adulteress (Pieter Bruegel the Elder)
Christ and the adulteress
Pieter Bruegel the Elder , 1565
Oil on canvas
24.1 x 34.4 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art , London

Christ and the Adulteress is a grisaille painting by Dutch painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder from 1565 in the Courtauld Institute of Art . It shows a biblical scene in which Jesus demonstratively forgives an adulteress .

Bruegel painted the scene in oil on a canvas measuring 24.1 by 34.4 centimeters. The work is signed and dated to the year 1565, the signature is in the lower left corner of the picture and reads: "BRVEGEL.MDLXV"

description

The painting shows the Pericope Adulterae , a passage from the Gospel of John ( Joh 7.53  EU to 8.11 EU ). Jesus argues with scribes and Pharisees about punishing a woman who has recently been caught committing adultery. The common punishment for this act was stoning to death . Jesus saves the lives of the condemned with the request: "Who of you is without sin, be the first to throw a stone at them." ( Jn 8,7  EU ) This scene is a motif often used in paintings (cf. Reception of Jesus and the adulteress ).

In Bruegel's depiction, Jesus kneels in front of the scribes and Pharisees and writes the request on the floor with his finger. You can already read: “DIE SONDER SONDE IS DIE” ( Flemish : 'He who is without sin'). From the viewer's point of view, slightly to the right behind the kneeling man stands the adulteress, between her and the scribes and Pharisees there are several stones on the floor. There is a large group of spectators in the background.

Provenance

Bruegel did not sell the work. Mostly it is assumed that it went to his son Jan after his death . In the 17th century it was sold to England by the Brueghel family - probably through Jan's son Jan Brueghel the Younger . On February 1, 1952, Antoine Seilern and Aspang bought it at Christie's from a previous owner who had remained anonymous. With the estate of the collector it came into the possession of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London . It was stolen from there on February 2, 1982. Because of its fame and high value, however, the painting was not for sale on the open market and was lost for ten years. When an attempt was made to sell it again through Christie's, it was finally secured.

Other versions

Copies of the picture exist by Paul Perret, who published an engraving after Bruegel's painting in 1579 , and by Bruegel's son Pieter the Younger , who created a similarly large, but much more colorful version in oil on canvas around 1600.

Web links

Commons : Christ and the Adulteress  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Christ and the woman taken in adultery. Courtauld Institute of Art , accessed September 1, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery. Philadelphia Museum of Art , accessed September 1, 2011 .
  3. ^ Peter C. Sutton: Dutch & Flemish paintings: the collection of Willem Baron van Dedem . frances lincoln, 2002, ISBN 0-7112-2010-7 , p. 74 .
  4. ^ Fritz Grossmann : Bruegel's 'Woman Taken in Adultery' and Other Grisailles . In: The Burlington Magazine . Vol. 94, No. 593 , August 1952, p. 218 .
  5. ↑ RW Apple Jr .: London Theft $ 1 million Bruegel . In: New York Times . February 4, 1982, p. A4 ( excerpts online [accessed September 5, 2011]).
  6. ^ Paint job: How the Tate profited from a great art heist . In: The Sunday Times . January 26, 2003 ( article online [accessed September 5, 2011]).