Theodor van Loon

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, December 12, 1990, lot 117 (as Circle of Matthias Stomer);
With Pietro Corsini, New York, 1992;
With Adam Williams Fine Art, from whom acquired by the present owner.

New York, Pietro Corsini, Baroque Paintings, 1992, pp. 12-13, no. 3;
London, Robilant and Voena, Dutch and Flemish Caravaggesque Paintings from the Koelliker Collection, 28 November - 19 December 2007, pp. 46-49, no. 13, reproduced in colour.

J. de Maere, Illustrated Dictionary of Flemish 17th Century Painters, vol. III, Brussels 1994, p. 763, reproduced;
A. Orlando in French, Dutch and Flemish Caravaggesque Paintings from the Koelliker Collection, London 2007, pp. 46-49, no. 13, reproduced in colour.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has an old glue lining which stabilizes the surface reasonably well. There is a small tear in the background to the left of the boy with the curly hair, i.e., David, which is slightly raised and which could use some attention, yet the general texture is very good. The paint layer is generally very healthy. As one would expect from a picture such as this, some of the dark colors which are so thinly painted, the shadows in the faces for instance, are slightly thin and have received some retouching, which is clearly visible under ultraviolet light. The helmet of the figure on the left side is slightly thin but not noticeably restored. Overall this picture is in very good condition with hardly any structural damages. The lighter colors are very healthy. There is another tear running vertically through the forearm and the fabric worn by the standing figure on the right side. Beneath this figure's hand there is what appears to be another small break. The restoration is very accurate and if a little attention were to be paid to reinforcing the old tears on the back, the picture would be ready to hang.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This striking depiction of the young David straining under the weight of the decapitated head of Goliath was first attributed to the Fleming Theodor van Loon by Pietro Corsini in 1992. Previously, and prior to cleaning, it had been sold at Sotheby's as by an anonymous follower of Matthias Stomer, with whom Van Loon worked during his second trip to Rome circa 1630. It is perhaps the most "Caravaggesque" of all of Van Loon's works; where normally he lavishes considerable care on the setting, here Van Loon constructs the scene against a plain black background, thus enhancing the impact of the work as a whole. Van Loon does not define the setting, concentrating instead on the effects of the light that emanates from the left, and in particular on its reflections in the armour of the soldiers, and on the expressions of the onlookers. Van Loon's interpretation of Caravaggio and his circle in Rome has been well investigated by Antonio Boschetto in his article published in Paragone in 1970.¹

After his return from Rome in 1608, where he had spent nearly seven years and where he would surely have come across Caravaggio himself, Van Loon received numerous important commissions, notably from the Archdukes Albert and Isabella, for whom he executed a cycle of paintings on the Life of the Virgin for the church of the Discalced Carmelites in Brussels. A few years later he decorated their hunting lodge at Tervuren with scenes from the life of St. Hubert, amongst other works,  and between 1623 – 1628 and again in 1632 he painted another series of works depicting the Life of the Virgin for the pilgrims' church founded by the Archdukes at Scherpenheuvel. Private commissions such as the present work are scant; the theme of David's defeat of Goliath was however a popular one amongst collectors and patrons, both for its allegorical nuances and the possible self-identification of the patron with the young David.

1. A. Boschetto, "Di Theodor van Loon e dei suoi dipinti a Montaigu," in Paragone, 239, 1970, pp. 42-59.