Galerie Johnny van Haeften, Londres, en 2004 ;

Galerie Salomon Lilian, Amsterdam, en 2005 ;

Galerie De Jonckheere, Paris ;

Acquis auprès de cette dernière en 2005 par les parents des actuels propriétaires (en paire avec le numéro suivant) ;

Collection particulière, France

Klaus Ertz, Christa Nitze-Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625) : kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, Lingen, 2008-2010 , t. 2, p. 682-685, n° 334

This fascinating painting narrates a famous episode from the Aeneid in which the Gods authorize Aeneas to visit the Underworld in order for him to recover his father’s soul (Aeneid, VI, v. 269-282). Aeneas is led by the Cumaean Sibyl who guides him into the infernal world populated by demons, where dangers seem to threaten from all sides. In his right hand he grasps the golden branch that allows him to enter the kingdom of Hades. Two other versions, with slightly different compositions, are today in Budapest (Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, signed and dated ‘BRVEGH. 1600’, no. 551 and signed and dated: ‘(…)GHEL 160.’, no. 553, fig. 1). In total, Jan Brueghel the Elder made six versions of this subject, of almost identical format and painted on copper, while a larger version is in Vienna. Thus, in addition to the two replicas in Budapest, two other copies can be found in public institutions: in Rome’s Galleria Colonna (inv. no. 682), and in Vienna, at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (no. 817)1. Klaus Ertz and Christa Nitze-Ertz believe that the first version dates from around 1594 (the one in Rome) and they place our version to around 1600.

To depict this infernal vision, Jan Brueghel drew inspiration not only from the works of his father Pieter Brueghel I (c. 1528-1569), who produced a series of engravings on the theme of the seven deadly sins and the Last Judgement (2), but also from the works of Hieronymus Bosch and his followers such as Jan Mandijn and Peter Huys (3). While the theme of Aeneas appears in a panel attributed to Jan Mandijn from the 1540s-1550s (Anonymous sale; Cologne, Lempertz, 26 November-1 December 1958, Lot. 65, 63 x 86 cm), it was Brueghel who was one of the first artists to take the underworld and transform it into a true landscape. The tormented figures were possibly inspired by the models of Italian Mannerism that he had seen during his stay in the mountainous regions of Italy, in particular Rosso Fiorentino, Pontormo and also Tintoretto.

Here the underworld extends into the distance through the representation of the river of the Underworld, the Styx, which deepens the perspective and gives breadth to the composition. In this the artist finds inspiration in the world landscapes of Joachim Patinir. In the distance, the glow of the fire and the brown of the smoke create a dramatic and disturbing atmosphere. Through a very smooth and brilliant style, Jan Brueghel represents both the shimmering of the fabrics and the slimy appearance of the sea demons in the foreground. Several motifs appear repeatedly in Jan Brueghel the Elder's compositions of the Underworld, such as the gallows and the burning wheels or the pit of Hell. Here, Jan adds the motif of the monster with its wide-open mouth appearing in the middle of the painting. He draws upon the work of Joos de Momper or Herri met de Bles to design a monstrous anthropomorphic figure using elements of the landscape.

This composition was a great success, as can be seen from the many versions made by Jan Brueghel II (4). Frans Francken II also produced a work on copper of the same subject (Munich, Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, no. 1879, fig. 2).

1.    Klaus Ertz, Christa Nitze-Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Ältere (1568-1625) : kritischer Katalog der Gemälde, Lingen, 2008-2010, t. 2, n° 331 à 335.

2.    Pieter Brueghel l’Ancien provided the models which were engraved by Pieter van der Heyden: see Hieronymus Cock. La gravure à la Renaissance, cat. exh., Leuven, M Leuven Museum, Paris, Fondation Custodia, 2013, p. 216-225, n^o 53.

3.    We refer here to the triptych with the end of time, heaven and hell attributed to Cornelis Cort after a follower of Hieronymus Bosch: Hieronymus Cock. La gravure à la Renaissance, op. cit. pp. 248-249, no. 62.

4.    See Klaus Ertz, Jan Brueghel der Jüngere, Freren, 1984, p. 303-304. There is a version in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels: no. 6249, based on one of Jan the Elder's compositions kept in Budapest.

Illustrations:

Fig. 1. Jan Brueghel the Elder, Aeneas and the Sibyl in the Underworld, oil on copper, 26.4 x 36.2 cm, Budapest, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, n^o 553.

Fig. 2. Frans Francken II, Aeneas and the Sibyl in the Underworld, oil on copper, 27.1 x 48 cm, Munich, Bayerisches Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek, n° 1879