Search Request | Object report
The Prophet Elijah on the Golden Chariot
Lost Art-ID
1719
Artist
Rubens, Peter Paul
Birth
1577.06.28, Siegen (Westfalen)
Death
1640.05.30, Antwerpen
Place of activity
Antwerpen; Venedig; Florenz; Rom; Valladolid; Mantua; Genua; Paris; Brüssel; Madrid; London
Title
The Prophet Elijah on the Golden Chariot
Datierung
1620 (um)
Object type
Group of reported objects
Material / Technique
oil paint : oak / painted
Height
32.50 cm
Width
43.00 cm
Inventory number
Ahv 38
Description
Oil sketch; Elijah, wearing a red garment and a flapping cloak, stands turned backwards, with his arms opened wide, on the flaming golden chariot, which is pulled downwards to the left over dark clouds by fire-breathing white horses; one of five designs for the ceiling paintings of the Jesuit Church Carolus Borromeus in Antwerp, now defunct.
Provenance
According to the 1721 inventory, the painting was acquired by duke Frederick II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg from the inventory of baron Gotter. [...]. Exhibited in 1935 in the Herzogliches Museum, Oberlichtsaal 2 (file 3405); 1939 loan request from the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum Krefeld; 1943 to Reinhardsbrunn (catalog 1943, sheet 46). During the war, parts of the scientific and art collections of Gotha were transferred to Coburg (according to the transfer protocol in March 1945, cf. ThHStAWeimar, C 1624), many did not return from there. Later it became known that the former Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is said to have transferred and sold art objects from the place of removal. Some works had turned up in the USA. The GDR had suggested to the USA in a note of March 14, 1978 that negotiations be opened. In 1979, the GDR handed over a list of cultural objects that were in the USA, among them was the painting by Rubens. Since 1952 (1962?) it was in the possession of Curtius O. Baer, among others according to a letter communication of September 05, 1967 by A.M.C. Driessen-Deelen, Amsterdam. [...].last owner: collection George M. Baer (died in 2009), Atlanta (Georgia); on long-term loan in the National Gallery of Art in Washington since 1997 (?) - uncertain, at least not there at this time (2021).
Literature / Source
Inventar 1721, fol. 166r, 73c; Inventar 1764, fol. 94r, Nr. 69; SSFG, SM, Archiv, Akte 3405 (1935); Katalog 1943, Bl. 46; ThHStAWeimar, Thüringisches Ministerium für Volksbildung und Justiz, Abteilung Volksbildung in Weimar über Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha'sche Stiftung für Kunst und Wissenschaft, C 1624 (Übergabeprotokoll März 1945 Coburg); Verlustdokumentation Neumeister
Published since
Contact
Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein
Gotha
Schlossplatz 1
99867 Gotha
Germany
Phone
0049 (0) 03621 8234-0
Fax
0049 (0) 03621 8234-290
Contact
Dr. Timo Trümper
Position
Kustode für Gemälde und Plastik
Phone
+49 (0) 3621 8234 553
Contact
Dr. Tobias Pfeifer-Helke
Position
Stiftungsdirektor
Phone
+49 (0) 621-8234 100
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