Abraham Bloemaert

Possibly acquired in Holland by Robert Hampden Trevor (1706-1783), later first Viscount Hampden, British Minister at The Hague 1734-36;
Possibly bequeathed by the above to his brother, Richard Trevor, bishop of Durham 1752-1771;
The bishops of Durham, Auckland Castle, certainly by 1834, where mentioned as hanging in the dining room;
In the ownership of the above until sold London, Sotheby's, 6 December 1972, lot 23 (no signature mentioned but measurements given as 210 by 155 cm), where acquired by Baronne Bich for £12,000;
His sale, London, Sotheby's, 23 June 1982, lot 6 (as dated 1645), for £18,700, where acquired by Colnaghi;
With Richard L. Feigen and Co., London, 1990.

London, Colnaghi, Art. Commerce. Scholarship, 1984, no. 37.

P.J.J. van Thiel, "Catholic elements in seventeenth-century Dutch painting, apropos of a children's portrait by Thomas de Keyser", in Simiolus, vol.20, no. 1, 1990/91, p. 56, reproduced;
M.G. Roethlisberger, "Bloemaert's altarpieces and religious paintings", in Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXXIV, no. 1068, March 1992, p. 163, reproduced;
M.G. Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert and his sons, vol. I, Doornspijk 1993, pp. 314-5, cat. no. 489, reproduced vol. II, col. plate XXIII, and fig. 671.

The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This large canvas has a single vertical seam a third of the way from the left side. There is a recent secure lining and stretcher, and recent restoration. The texture has been well preserved and there are unusually few accidental damages for a picture of this size. The two upper corners have various quite small retouchings, probably as a result of past careless tautening of the wedges, with one narrow winding vertical line near the top right corner in the clouds. The white drapery at lower right has several incidental retouchings, including one horizontal knock (about two inches wide) near the base of the folds with other little retouchings nearby along this horizontal line, and another similar if smaller knock on the knee above. Occasional other minor retouchings in the white drapery are visible under ultra violet light, although apparently strengthening shadows, rather than over losses. In the background on the left above St. Augustine there is another retouched knock (about two inches high) and a horizontal retouching in the lower central red drapery. In general while the foreground figures remain largely in exceedingly good condition, the red pigments of the curtain behind and the altar cloth have been more vulnerable. The figure of St Augustine on the left is in especially beautiful condition, as is the fine modelling of St Jerome's back, while the drapery surrounding him is quite thin, and his hands in the shadows have been fairly extensively strengthened. There is a certain amount of scattered retouching in the background, and the altarpiece behind the monstrance in the centre is particularly thin. The more densely painted areas remain finely preserved however, including the putti above, where there are occasional minor retouchings, as also in the visionary book, but much beautifully intact glazing in the flesh painting. The still life of the book and the carpet near the base on the right is particularly magnificent and unworn. The other open book nearby has a slightly more worn pigment in the binding. There is a succession of short and narrow horizontal lines, apparently of faint wear, in the mid left background, hard to explain but scarcely visible. The darker modelling in some of the heads is slightly thin, but the portraits are mainly in strikingly beautiful condition. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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."

Although the commission of this monumental canvas does not appear to be recorded, it has all the characteristics of an altarpiece and was almost certainly intended as such. It derives from Bloemaert's print of 1629, and is the only case in his oeuvre of an autograph painting repeating one of his prints (see fig. 1); the patron doubtless commissioned it having seen and enjoyed the design in the print. The principal difference between print and painting is in the replacement of the two hovering angels with ten smaller ones.

Provenance
During the 19th century this painting was at Auckland House, the official residence of the bishops of Durham. In the catalogue of their sale, at Sotheby's in 1972, the reproduction shows the altar with the chandeliers and monstrance obliterated with overpaint. This overpainting probably occured during the 18th century when it was brought to England, probably by Robert Hampden Trevor (see Provenance), so as to reconcile it with the doctrine of the Anglican church, which used neither altars nor monstrance. The painting was still, however, of overtly Catholic subject matter and so, despite these changes, it is still most surprising that it was deemed appropriate to the Bishops of Durham. The overpaint was removed in 1983.