234 - Peter Paul Rubens, Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert - Coastal Landscape with Thunderstorm – Allegory of Discord – after the lost painting by Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens, Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert - Coastal Landscape with Thunderstorm – Allegory of Discord – after the lost painting by Rubens Description: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) / Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert (c. 1586–1659) – Stormy Coastal Landscape – Allegory of Discord – Early Van den Enden State – Possibly from the Collection of Étienne Baudet (1638–1711) A magnificent and highly dramatic landscape after Peter Paul Rubens, showing a violent thunderstorm breaking over a fortified coastal town surrounded by mountains. Lightning pierces the dark clouds while wind, rain and turbulent waters overwhelm the landscape and figures and animals seek shelter in the foreground. The dramatic conflict of the elements serves as an allegory of Discord and the destructive consequences of civil strife. The Latin verses below, beginning “En quo discordia cives...”, compare the violent struggle between the elements with the still more destructive effects of discord among mankind. Engraved by Schelte Adamsz. Bolswert, one of the finest reproductive engravers associated with Rubens and responsible for some of the most accomplished graphic interpretations of the master's landscapes. An early impression with the address of Maarten van den Enden (1605-1673) , lettered “P.P. Rubbens pinxit / S. a Bolswert fecit” and “Mart. vanden Enden excudit Cum Privilegio”, before the later publication of the plate by subsequent Antwerp publishers. Of particular importance, the painting by Rubens on which the engraving is based is no longer known and the composition is therefore preserved principally through Bolswert's celebrated engraving. Of exceptional interest is the old inscription in brown ink on the verso: “J'appartiens à Baudet graveur” (“I belong to Baudet, engraver”), very probably referring to the celebrated French engraver Étienne Baudet (1638–1711). The attribution of this early provenance is particularly compelling in view of Baudet's own strong interest in landscape art: he was himself a distinguished engraver of large-scale landscapes, notably after Nicolas Poussin. The inscription is contemporary in character and, if indeed referring to Étienne Baudet, provides a fascinating direct connection between the great Flemish landscape tradition of Rubens and Bolswert and the subsequent generation of French reproductive landscape engraving. A powerful early impression of one of Bolswert's most spectacular landscapes, with an exceptionally intriguing seventeenth-century provenance. Dimensions: 30,50 x 42,80 cm Condition: Excellent impression on laid paper from the period, with the full plate border and good margins, watermarked with a bunch of grapes surmounted by a fleur-de-lis. A few unobtrusive pinholes (wormholes) and a flattened central fold. Verso clean. Overall in excellent condition. Literature: Schneevoogt 1873 / Catalogue des estampes gravées d'après P.P.Rubens (233.53.7) ----- Hollstein / Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700 (311.II/IV) (Bolswert)(311.II/IV) ---- Corpus Rubenianum XVIII.I / Landscapes and Hunting Scenes; I. Landscapes (30) (c5) Medium: Engraving Date: 1638