Case 10 2010-11 : A painting by Jan de Bray, David and the return of the Ark of the Covenant

Expert Adviser’s Statement

Reviewing Committee Secretary’s note: Please note that the illustrations referred to have not been reproduced on the MLA website.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Jan de Bray (Dutch, 1626/7 – 1697) David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant , 1670 Signed and dated on the foot of the candlestick: JdBray Oil on canvas, 142 x 154 cm

Condition: The painting is in very good condition overall (see attached condition report). There is a horizontal seam in the canvas approximately 30 cm from the bottom edge of the painting. There are some isolated damages (the most noticeable being an area to the left of David’s shoulder, below the head of the man in the shadows; and two diagonal lines above and below the music held by the boy at lower right), but these are minor and presently made more visible by discoloured inpainting.

Provenance : (possibly) collection Arnold van Halen, Amsterdam; (possibly) sale Gerard Godaert, baron Taets van Amerongen et al., Amsterdam, 3 July 1805, lot 10 (erroneously as by Salomon de Bray; fl.100, to Coclers); (possibly) sale Amsterdam, 23 August 1808, lot 10 (fl. 105, to J. A. Spaan); collection tenth Earl of Wemyss and March, 1914 (but possibly in the family earlier); by descent to the present owner

Literature: (possibly) Arnold Houbraken, De Groote Schouburgh der Nederlandsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen (Amsterdam, 1718), vol. 1, fol. 176 (mentions a painting by de Bray of this subject in the collection of Arnold van Halen in Amsterdam, but dated 1697); (possibly) Jacob Campo Weyerman, De Levens-beschryvingen der Nederlandsche Konst-schilders en Konst-schilderessen (The Hague and Dordrecht, 1729-69), vol. 1, p. 398 (repeats information from Houbraken but does not indicate date for the painting); J. W. von Moltke, ‘Jan de Bray’, Marburger Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft XI/XII (1938/1939), p. 465 no. 7b; in addition see the detailed entries in the catalogues to the various exhibitions listed below.

Exhibitions: Dutch Pictures 1450-1750 (London, The Royal Academy, 1952- 3), no. 637; Pictures from Gosford House lent by the Earl of Wemyss and March (Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland, 1957), no. 26; Dutch Art and Scotland: A reflection of taste (Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland, 1992), no. 9; The Glory of the Golden Age. Dutch Art of the Seventeenth Century: Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2000), no. 172; Painting Family: The De Brays, Master Painters of 17 th Century Holland (Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum and Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2008), no. 34

Waverley criteria The painting meets Waverley criteria two and three: it is of outstanding aesthetic importance, as well as of outstanding significance for the study of the history of Dutch art. De Bray was one of the leading practitioners of the classicist style in Haarlem during the 17 th century; his approach to subject matter—as evidenced by this striking depiction of a rare subject from the Old Testament—was innovative, dynamic and highly personal. David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant is a particularly fine example of de Bray’s work, which is not common in the UK. Moreover it represents two important themes in Dutch painting of the 17 th century—large-figured history pieces and the classical tradition—that are simply not well represented in public collections in the UK. DETAILED CASE

1. Detailed description of item(s) if more than in Executive summary, and any comments.

Jan de Bray (1626/7-1698), a native of Haarlem, was one of the most important representatives of the classicist style in Dutch painting. He was the son and pupil of the painter and architect Salomon de Bray and the older brother of the painters Joseph and Dirck de Bray. Jan painted mostly portraits, but his clear, sculptural style was admirably suited to the depiction of historical subjects as well. As the leading history painter in Haarlem, de Bray produced a series of paintings with innovative and unusual themes, of which the present work is a particularly fine example. David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant was painted in 1670, when the artist was at the height of his powers. The painting represents King David escorting the Ark of the Covenant (viewed framed in the archway at left) back to Jerusalem after having recovered it from the Philistines. David wears a plain white liturgical gown, as described in II Samuel 6:14-15, and plays the harp in celebration; around him is evidence of great, solemn rejoicing, including a blast of trumpets at right. The subject is extremely rare in Dutch art: in the whole of the 17th century only one other artist (Leonard Bramer) addressed the theme. De Bray’s ‘staging’ of the scene is inventive and uniquely dynamic. By presenting the life-sized figures at three-quarter length he increases the immediacy of the scene. As the viewer is drawn into the celebration, the sense of jubilation becomes more intensely personal. The effect is heightened by the light that strikes the figures as they emerge from a sheltered gateway, creating a dazzling and almost tangible spectacle of the varied surfaces of cloth, flesh, gilt and metal. A second version of the composition, painted in 1674, is in the Herzog-Anton- Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig (see attached reproduction). In that work, the figure of David in his simple white robe is nearly eclipsed by a sumptuously clad high priest bearing a censor (possibly a portrait), which replaces the lead candle-bearer at left. The present (primary) version is the more successful of the two, as it emphasizes the direct emotional impact of the scene. It was not unusual for de Bray to paint a second version of one of this own paintings; a later reworking of the Banquet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the Royal Collection (see below), dated 1669, is in the Currier Museum of Art, Manchester N.H. Old Testament themes were enormously popular in Dutch art of the 17 th century. The reasons for this are varied and complex, but can be traced at least in part to the availability of vernacular translations of the Bible and an avid readership for them in a predominantly Protestant nation; a vibrant local community of Jewish scholars and art patrons; an antiquarian interest in the Bible as history; and an enduring fascination on the part of both artists and collectors with both the affective interpretation and the religious significance of these dramatic tales. It was a particular artistic challenge to interpret an untried theme—as Jan de Bray has done so brilliantly in David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant .

2. Detailed explanation of the outstanding significance of the item(s).

The significance of Jan de Bray’s David and the return of the Ark of the Covenant is suggested by its inclusion in a landmark exhibition of 17 th -century Dutch art held at the Rijksmuseum in 2000 to mark the bicentennial of that institution’s founding. It was among 145 paintings selected from collections worldwide (and one of only six from private hands) to convey the quality and rich diversity of Dutch painting of the golden age. It is without a doubt one of the most impressive works by this talented artist, and was a highlight of a recent (2008) exhibition of paintings by four members of the de Bray family. While depictions of Old Testament subjects are relatively common in Dutch painting, they are not well represented in public collections in the UK. This reflects the overall trend in collecting Dutch paintings in England, Scotland and Wales through the 18 th , 19 th and early 20 th centuries, which (with the exception of works by Rembrandt) generally favoured landscapes, sea pieces and genre scenes over historical or biblical scenes. Keeping the painting in the UK, and ideally in a public collection, is particularly important to more accurately reflect the range of subject matter covered in Dutch painting in the 17 th century. A large proportion of the Dutch history painting that are present in UK collections reflects the historical bias towards works by Rembrandt and his school, but the classicism of de Bray’s painting emphasizes the vibrant continuity of this competing style. Indeed, classicism flourished in the Netherlands throughout the 17 th century. Initially pursued as a reaction to the extremes of Mannerism, Caravaggism and the painterly and emotive style of Rembrandt and his followers, after mid- century classicism gathered new energy in a creative quest for clarity, sublimity and order in form and expression. Utrecht, Amsterdam and (especially) Haarlem were the leading centres of classicist painting, and it became the dominant style for important civic, religious and princely commissions. Many of the most significant examples of Dutch classicist painting remain in Netherlandish collections, and few are to be found in the UK. There are only a handful of paintings by Jan de Bray currently in public or private collections in the UK:

• Banquet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra , 1652 (oil on canvas, 170.2 x 166.4 cm; collection H.M. Queen Elizabeth II) • Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, Anna Westerbaen , 1657 (oil on panel, 66.4 x 50.5 cm; The National Gallery, London) • Jael and Sisera , 1659 (oil on panel, 40 x 33 cm, York City Art Gallery) • four small oval portraits, dated 1662 and 1663 (oil on panel, 23.5 x 17.4 and 21.2 x 15.5 cm [each]; National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh)

Of the two history paintings, Banquet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra is a portrait historié depicting the artist’s family as guests at this fabled feast; and Jael and Sisera is a small cabinet piece that lacks the life-sized dramatic impact of David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant . Retaining this picture in the UK is therefore of paramount importance, as there are no comparable examples of Dutch classicist history paintings in public collections, either by de Bray or by his closest contemporaries.

Summary

Jan de Bray’s David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant is a rare depiction of an unusual subject, an exemplary work by an accomplished master, and a uniquely compelling example of Dutch classicism. With strong, fluid brushwork, an innate feel for dramatic composition, and fluency in the classical language of rhetorical gestures and expressions, de Bray combines classical decorum with a humanity that is characteristically Dutch. David and the Return of the Ark of the Covenant exemplifies the persistence of a classical tradition in the North, and the drive to adapt those formal ideals to suit a Netherlandish devotion to plausible realism and the direct observation of nature.

Nicholas Penny, Director, The National Gallery, Expert Advisor

Report prepared by Marjorie E. Wieseman, Curator of Dutch Painting, The National Gallery

24 September 2010