1018 - Jan Brueghel d. Ä.

Jan Brueghel d. Ä. Jan Brueghel the Elder Aeneas carries his father, Anchises, out of burning Troy Oil on copper. 18.5 x 25.5 cm. Provenance Private collection, Germany. Exhibitions Die Nacht, Haus der Kunst, München 1998/1999, no. 52 (as Jan Brueghel I). Literature Exh. cat. Munich 1998/1999: Die Nacht, ed. by S. Rosenthal, Wabern/Bern 1998, p. 53, no. 52. – K. Ertz: Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625), Lingen 2008-10, vol. II, no. 327, p. 672, ill. p. 671. – K. Renger et al.: Flämische Malerei des Barock in der Alten Pinakothek, Munich and Cologne 2002, p. 98 (as variation of inv.-no. 832). At the centre of the composition is the scene of flight from Book II of Virgil’s 'Aeneid' (vv. 707–729), recounting the fall of Troy: as the embodiment of 'pius Aeneas', he carries his aged father Anchises and leads his young son Ascanius, while his wife Creusa is lost in the turmoil of the escape. Jan Brueghel the Elder places the group along the lower edge against classical palaces, from which blazing flames and dense smoke billow into the night. The subject provided Brueghel with an ideal vehicle for a virtuoso play of chiaroscuro. The conflagration serves as the sole light source, casting the architecture into sharp silhouette whilst warm raking light sculpts the figures. According to Karel van Mander's 'Het Schilder-boeck' (Haarlem 1604, chap. 7, fol. 32v, 42–44), such nocturnal fire pieces ('brandjes') and the mastery of dramatic light reflections were regarded as the ultimate test of painterly skill. Brueghel’s fascination with nocturnal fires was rooted in the early Netherlandish tradition - notably Hieronymus Bosch. The smooth copper support enabled the delicate, enamel-like paint application that renders sparks and luminous reflections with meticulous precision. Klaus Ertz describes the present work as an ‘autograph, reduced-scale repetition’ (‘eigenhändige, verkleinerte Wiederholung’) of the celebrated version in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich (inv. no. 832). Small-scale copper panels such as this were among the most coveted cabinet pieces for princely Kunst- und Wunderkammer.