Missing Rubens

A lot of unrecognised copies after old masters this week, mostly to poor to mention here (or do you want a poor 19th century copy of a Velazquez?). More fun is it when a copy of a Rubens painting turns up at Drouot (lot 52, 27 March 2015), described as  Flemish School, 17th century, "Diana", and estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Euro, which turns out to be a copy after a lost or location unknown Rubens original. Could it be the long lost original? Well, obviously not, unless you believe that the whole painting has been overpainted so much that every trace of Rubens has been erased.

A much better copy was sold at Sotheby's for £10,000 in 2008. The one now for sale seems relatively expensive considering the quality, but if you are trying to collect every Rubens painting, this may be one of the harder to find ones!

There are a few important differences between the Sotheby's copy and the one for sale here, no idea what the reason is (creative freedom of the copiers? Multiple lost originals?). The result is that in the one for sale, the dog in the front is just barking at nothing, while in the Sotheby's one he is barking to some dead wildlife. Seems more logical...

Rubens, lost "Venus and Adonis", copy

Rubens painted three very similar versions of the "Venus and Adonis" myth (and some less similar ones as well). One is kept in the Hermitage, one in the Museum Kunstpalast (in Düsseldorf), and one is lost. A copy of that lost version is now for sale at Marbella Auctions, described as "19th Century oil painting on canvas in style of Rubens showing a lady holding a man with swans in the background."

As a copy of a lost painting, this one is obviously more interesting than most Rubens' copies, and it seems to be a fairly unusual painting anyway. With a starting price of only 1,500 Euro, it is a bargain. UPDATE: not sold, either because it wasn't a bergain or because people didn't recognise the origin of the painting.

The Hermitage version (perhaps a copy of a Rubens original, perhaps a workshop original) above is wider, and has the little angel hanging from the leg of Adonis instead of just holding it. The dogs are also more active.

The Museum Kunstpalast version above is the tamest, with the little angel and the dog just standing by. It is closer to the one for sale though in dimensions.

The original version of the one we have here was kept in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, but sadly lost during WWII. The image above is courtesy of the RKD. The copy, while pretty good, is lacking in some parts, like the head of the angel or the cape of Adonis. But it is perhaps your best chance to study this version of the picture anyway, with the original being lost.

Another, better copy of this work was sold at Christie's in 2003 for nearly 4,500 Euro.