(Antwerp 1581–1641)
The Holy Trinity,
oil on panel, with the brand of the Antwerp panel maker’s guild on the reverse, 121 x 91 cm, framed

Provenance:
(probably) Jesuit Church of Saint Peter, Münster, until 1920;
Private collection, Augsburg, until 2002

Exhibited:
Mettingen, Draiflessen Collection, Credo. Masterpieces of Religious Art, 6 October 2010 – 9 January 2011, cat. no. 119

Literature:
A. Dern, U. Härting, Credo. Masterpieces of Religious Art, exhibition catalogue, Mettingen 2010, pp. 262–263, no. 119;
G. Finckh, N. Hartje-Grave, Freiheit, Macht, Pracht. Niederländische Kunst im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert, exhibition catalogue, Wuppertal 2009, p. 419, mentioned under no. 69 (as probably original)

The present painting is accompanied by a certificate by Hans Vlieghe, dated 6 February 2008. He dates the painting to around 1620 or slightly earlier.

The present painting is listed in the RKD database under number 1001088872 (as Artus Wolffort).

This balanced and serene composition of the Holy Trinity illustrates the belief that Christ was both human and divine. To the right of the composition Christ forms part of the Heavenly Trinity with God the Father on the left and the dove of the Holy Spirit hovering above. The subject is presented in close composition creating a striking impression on the viewer who is being contemplated by the direct and yet soft gaze of the Deities, and is drawn into the mystery of Christ’s wounds which he gently indicates with his forefinger. Presented as the Man of Sorrows, Christ represents the true epitome of salvation, whilst the representation of the Father, crowned with the papal tiara, symbolises the supremacy of the church. In the globus cruciger, shown in the lower left of the composition, a cross can be observed in the reflection – a hidden reference to the Passion of Christ.

It has only been until very recently that the corpus of works by the artist Artus Wolffort has been distinguished from that of his Flemish contemporaries. Scholars have misattributed many of his paintings to Otto van Veen (1566–1629), for whom Wolffort worked as an assistant, and even early Rubens – attesting to the high quality of certain pieces. Born in Antwerp in 1581 the artist had undertaken his training in Dordrecht, where his parents had settled soon after his birth. In circa 1616 Wolffort returned to Antwerp where he soon ran a successful workshop of his own, working primarily for the open market, as well as on commission. Wolffort’s oeuvre mainly consists of religious subjects, incorporating life-size figures with a forceful appearance and considerable plasticity, as is the case in the present painting.

Several versions of this composition of varying quality are known, including a version conserved in the collection of the Groeningemuseum, Bruges (inv. no. 0000.GRO0374.I), in which Christ indicates his wounds using his thumb and forefinger. In the present painting Christ’s index finger enters the wound giving the painting a much more emotional and direct impact. In similar treatments of the same subject executed by members of Wolffort’s workshop, and of undoubtedly lesser quality, Christ allows a stream of blood to flow from between his thumb and index finger. Paintings that follow this particular example are conserved in the Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent (inv. no. S-65) and another in the Church of Saint Clemens, Watermaal-Bosvoorde (see RKD database, under no. 1001089286).