(Gorinchem 1564–1651 Utrecht)
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt,
signed and dated lower right: A. Bloemaert f 1646,
oil on panel, 66.5 x 50 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Samuel Hartveld, Antwerp, until 1947;
René van de Broeck, Antwerp, until 1960;
Private collection, Alost;
Private collection, Eeklo;
with Jan de Maere, Brussels;
Private collection, Luxembourg, since 2008

Literature:
M. Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert and his sons, Ghent 1993, no. 558, fig. 747

Exhibited:
Sint Eloois-Vyve, Cultureel Centrum Sint Eloois-Vyve, Manieristes des Pays-Bas, 1986

The present panel depicting a classically draped Holy Family, and particularly the masterfully rendered, meditative figure of the Virgin Mary, resting on the Flight into Egypt is an outstanding example of the evolution of Bloemaert’s late style towards the Baroque. Marcel Roethlisberger, author of the monograph on the artist, describes the present picture as ‘a lovely work, painted when Bloemaert was 80 years old, it expresses peace and serenity’ (see M. Roethlisberger in literature). Roethlisberger notes also the subtle chiaroscuro of the shadow falling upon the Virgin’s blue mantle and upon the trunk of the tree, which is comparable to other works from Bloemaert’s mature period.

A versatile master who founded the Utrecht Tekenacademie with Paulus Moreelse in 1612, Bloemaert was instrumental in refining Italianate motifs, first as a painter in the Haarlem Mannerist style, and then as tutor of pupils such as Gerard van Honthorst (1592–1656), whose return to Utrecht from Rome in 1620, having re-interpreted the works of Caravaggio, heralded a change in Bloemaert’s own oeuvre, first to a more Caravaggesque output, and then later, as in the present composition, towards a refined, classicising manner. This work was obviously an important painting in Bloemaert’s late production, evidenced by several preparatory studies made for it. Noteworthy is the drawing conserved in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, (inv. no. 05, 166). Preparatory studies for the head of the Virgin are in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (see Popham & Fenwick, no. 135) and in a private collection. A study for the head of Saint Joseph formerly in the Laremitch collection in Russia, is now in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow.