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Old Woman and Boy with Candles
Peter Paul Rubensc. 1616 - 1617
Mauritshuis
Den Haag, Netherlands
An old woman gazes ahead, shielding her eyes from the candlelight, while the boy behind her holds his candle, ready to be lit. The panel is painted in the style of Caravaggio, whose work Rubens had seen in Italy. This style is characterised by its exciting effects of light and unpolished naturalism.
Rubens did not make this painting to be sold; instead he retained possession of it. He probably used it as study material for the pupils in his studio.
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Details
- Title: Old Woman and Boy with Candles
- Creator: Rubens, Peter Paul
- Date Created: c. 1616 - 1617
- Physical Dimensions: h77 cm x w62.5 cm
- Provenance: In the possession of the artist, Antwerp, until 1640 (posthumous inventory by Jan van Meurs, Antwerp 1640, no. 125); possibly in the collection of Arnold Lundens, Rubens’s brother-in-law, after 1640; possibly Muhlmann Collection, Riga, 1646; George Rogers, before 1801; Hastings Elwyn; his sale, London (Phillips), 23 May 1806 (Lugt 7101), no. 27 (for 950 pounds to Delahante); Alexis Delahante, London, 1806; sold by him to Charles Duncombe, created 1st Baron Feversham in 1826, Duncombe Park, Helmsley (for 2.000 pounds); William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham; William Ernest Duncombe, 3rd Baron and 1st Earl of Feversham; William Reginald Duncombe, Viscount Helmsley; Charles William Reginald Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham; Charles William Slingsby Duncombe, 5th Baron Feversham of Duncombe Park and 3rd and last Earl of Feversham of Ryedale; sold by him to Francis Francis, Bird Cay, Bahama’s, 1947-1965 (on long-term loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1948-1965); sale London (Sotheby’s), 30 June 1965, no. 15 (for 19,000 pounds to Agnew); Thomas Agnew & Sons, London; sold to a private collector; by inheritance to ‘A Lady of Title’; sale London (Sotheby’s), 7 July 2004, no. 30 ; Otto Naumann Ltd., New York; acquired with the support of the BankGiro Lottery, the Friends of the Mauritshuis Foundation, the Mondriaan Foundation, the Rembrandt Association (supported by the Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation) and the bequest of Ms A.A.W. Schröder, 2005
- Type: painting; oil
- Medium: panel
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