The Offering to the Infant Christ | MSK Gent
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The Offering to the Infant Christ

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 85 x 122 cm
  • Inv. S-82

Public Domain

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After beginning his career with Peeter van Avont in Antwerp, Frans Wouters became an apprentice in the studio of Rubens. He translated the monumental Baroque style of the master into smaller cabinet pieces, with both mythological and Christian-inspired themes, for an aristocratic audience. Later, he became court painter to the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II in Vienna. In 1638, he began working for the Prince of Wales, later King Charles I, for whom Van Dyck was a court painter. Prior to 1641, he returned to Antwerp, where he was active in the art trade. An apocryphal biblical text recounts how the young John the Baptist visited the infant Jesus during the flight into Egypt. He wore a cross and was accompanied by angels, who offered Jesus a lamb. Despite the serene nature of this idyllic landscape, the cross and the lamb already allude to his important role as Saviour. The Rest on the Flight into Egypt or The Virgin with Partridges (1632) by Anthony van Dyck in the Hermitage provided inspiration for this painting. The special care with which the landscape was painted is particularly noteworthy. In addition to Van Dyck and Rubens, the influence of Titian is also visible, whose work the Flemish masters not only imitated but also collected.

Artist

Frans Wouters RKD Wikidata
Lier 1612 - Antwerp 1659
painters (artists)AAT

Title The Offering to the Infant Christ
Period 17th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number S-82
Acquisition credit
onbekend
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/S-82
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/151/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300055874 religious symbolism AAT
25H landscapes Iconclass
Keywords Iconclass 11D Christ Iconclass
11D12 the cross ~ symbols of Christ Iconclass
11D21 Christ-child (with attributes) Iconclass
11F the Virgin Mary Iconclass
11F4 Madonna: i.e. Mary with the Christ-child Iconclass
11F4212 Mary sitting or enthroned, the Christ-child in front of her, sitting in her lap (or in front of her bosom) Iconclass
11H(JOHN THE BAPTIST) John the Baptist; possible attributes: book, reed cross, baptismal cup, honeycomb, lamb, staff Iconclass
25G3 trees Iconclass
26A clouds Iconclass
73 New Testament Iconclass
73A (scenes from the life of) John the Baptist and Mary Iconclass
73B64 flight into Egypt and miracles during the journey Iconclass
73B831 Mary and the Christ-child with John the Baptist (as child) Iconclass
92D1916 cupids: 'amores', 'amoretti', 'putti' Iconclass
School / Style Baroque AAT
Note des tableaux dessins et estampes déposés dans la ci-devant école de l'abbaye de Baudeloo. Ceux marqués d'un K sont conformes à la note du 10 ventôse an V, trouvés au quartier de l'abbé de Saint-Pierre / Charles Piot. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (nr. 220)
Notice et description des tableaux et statues exposés au Muséum du Département de l'Escaut situé à Gand dans l'église de la ci-devant Abbaye St. Pierre + Plusieurs statues antiques et bustes, moulées en plâtre sur les originaux qui sont au Musée de Paris / Pierre François Antoine de Goesin-Verhaeghe. - A Gand : De l'Imprimerie de P.F. de Goesin-Verhaeghe, 1802 (nr. 47)
Notice des tableaux du musée de la ville de Gand, situé au local de l'académie royale de dessin, sculpture, architecture, etc. - Gand : D.J. Vanderhaeghen-Hulin, 1846 (nr. 62)
Catalogue du musée de peinture de la ville de Gand, 1900 / Louis Maeterlinck. - Gand : Imprimerie Victor Van Doosselaere, 1900 (nr. 66)
La Vierge et l'enfant (la Sainte Famille), par Van den Avont / Albert Dutry. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 33, nr. 325)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 166-167 (ill.))
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent : The Collection (exhibition opened on March 21th 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Ghent : Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 2021
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