Abraham Bloemaert

Bears unidentified collector's mark, formerly thought to be that of Pierre Crozat (L.474);
bears inscription on mount: 'from the Collection of Count Clarus';
sale, Amsterdam, de Vries, 10 May 1927, lot 41;
sale, Frankfurt am Main, Prestel, 22 November 1927, lot 29;
Richard Holtkott (L.4266);
with Katrin Bellinger, Munich, 2001 (cat. 13)

J.A. Bolten, Abraham Bloemaert, c.1565-1651, The Drawings, Leiden 2007, vol. I, p. 103, under no. 251, reproduced vol. II, p. 127, fig. 251a

Fixed in all four corners to the old album/backing sheet. There is some slight discolouration and surface dirt to the sheet. The white heightening shows some signs of partial oxidation and there are some small stains to the sheet in places. The pen and ink medium is still very fresh and the overall image is strong.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It was not unusual for Bloemaert to make repetitions of his own drawings.  This composition of St. Luke is known in three versions, of which Bolten (loc. cit.) describes this as the best;  the others are in Amsterdam and Naples.  This was originally one of a series of four drawings depicting the four Evangelists.  Bloemaert's drawing of St. John is now in the Stanford University Museum of Art, and a copy of it was formerly in the David Daniels collection.¹  The original drawings of St. Matthew and St. Mark are lost, although a copy of the former is in the Yale University Art Gallery.²  In all these individual representations of the Evangelists, Bloemaert has drawn heavily on his own much earlier composition depicting the four Evangelists seated together at a table, writing, which exists in several drawn and painted versions, most notably a drawing in Berlin and a painting, dating from c. 1612, in Princeton.³ 

It is possible that the present drawing and the three related depictions of the Evangelists may have been made in connection with paintings;  in the mid 17th century a set of four such paintings by Bloemaert was recorded in the collection of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, but nothing more is known of their appearance or subsequent fate.⁴ 

1.  Bolten, op. cit., no. 250 
2.  Ibid., nos. 252-3
3.  Ibid., pp. 101-2, no. 249
4.  Ibid., p. 103, n.18, citing M. Hervey, The Life, Correspondence & Collections of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, "Father of Virtue in England," Cambridge 1921, p. 476. no. 37