Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640
Title: Saint Peter Finding the Tribute Money
Date: 1617-1618
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
199.4 x 218.8 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1873
Object Number: NGI.38
DescriptionRubens is the most gifted, versatile and influential of all seventeenth-century Flemish artists. He was a painter to various courts of Europe, producing magnificent cycles of allegorical paintings glorifying his princely patrons. He also served as a diplomat.The gospel of Matthew describes how Peter was asked in Capernaum whether his teacher paid temple tax. Christ told Peter to go to the lake, take out the first fish he caught and open its mouth. There in its jaws he would find the money to pay the tax. The subject was relatively rare in seventeenth-century European art and may have been commissioned by a fishermen’s guild.
Scholars have identified the painting as one of 12 works exchanged by Rubens in 1618 for antiquities belonging to Sir Dudley Carleton, a noted connoisseur and English ambassador in The Hague. Writing to Carleton, the artist described the picture as ‘Original, by my hand’, thereby reassuring him that it was painted by the master himself rather than by a member of his workshop, as was often the case by 1618. The loose folds of the drapery, the rugged naturalism of the figures, the powerful anatomy and the strong lighting all support this claim.
March 2016
Scholars have identified the painting as one of 12 works exchanged by Rubens in 1618 for antiquities belonging to Sir Dudley Carleton, a noted connoisseur and English ambassador in The Hague. Writing to Carleton, the artist described the picture as ‘Original, by my hand’, thereby reassuring him that it was painted by the master himself rather than by a member of his workshop, as was often the case by 1618. The loose folds of the drapery, the rugged naturalism of the figures, the powerful anatomy and the strong lighting all support this claim.
March 2016
ProvenanceSir Dudley Carleton collection, The Hague, 1618; acquired by Noel Desenfans for the collection of the King of Poland, c. 1790-1802 ; Skinner and Dyke, London, 16-18 March 1802, King of Poland sale, lot 116; 1868, Colonel Morris collection; purchased, Christie's, London, 1 March 1873, '50 pictures formerly in the collection of Noel Desenfans' sale, lot 37
Exhibition HistoryNational Exhibition of Works of Art, Leeds, 1868
From Titian to Delacroix: Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Ireland, Yokohama Sogo Museum of Art, 25 August - 17 October 1993; Chiba Sogo Museum of Art, 10 November - 20 December 1993; Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi, 5 January - 20 February 1994; Kobe City Museum, 25 February - 10 April 1994; Isetan Museum of Art, 14 April - 24 May 1994
European Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Ireland, National Gallery, Canberra, 25 June - 3 October 1994; Art Gallery of New South Wales, 21 October 1994 - 15 January 1995
From Titian to Delacroix: Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Ireland, Yokohama Sogo Museum of Art, 25 August - 17 October 1993; Chiba Sogo Museum of Art, 10 November - 20 December 1993; Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi, 5 January - 20 February 1994; Kobe City Museum, 25 February - 10 April 1994; Isetan Museum of Art, 14 April - 24 May 1994
European Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Ireland, National Gallery, Canberra, 25 June - 3 October 1994; Art Gallery of New South Wales, 21 October 1994 - 15 January 1995
Label TextRubens was the most gifted, versatile and influential of all seventeenth-century Flemish artists. He was a painter to various courts of Europe, and produced magnificent cycles of allegorical painting glorifying his princely patrons. The gospel of Matthew describes how Peter was asked in Capernaum whether his teacher paid temple tax. Christ told Peter to go to the lake, take out the first fish he caught and open its mouth. There in its jaws he would find the money needed to pay the tax. The subject was relatively rare in seventeenth-century European art and may have been commissioned by a ?shermen’s guild.