Rubens Painting Lost For Centuries Resurfaces, Now Being Sold At Auction
A centuries-old painting by famed artist Sir Peter Paul Rubens has resurfaced in a collection by a French family who is now offering the image for auction.
The painting in question dates back to 1609 and is titled Salome Presented With the Severed Head Of Saint John The Baptist. Depictions of the beheading of John the Baptist was not uncommon during that time. This particular piece was commissioned by Salome, the daughter of King Herod.
Rubens approached the traditional subject slightly differently with a more macabre take on the beheading, with the body lying listless on the floor, blood spurting out of its severed neck. Standing above John is Salome herself, his head on a silver platter. Her face is seemingly unperturbed by the scene before her.
By the mid-15th century, the painting fell into the hands of the Spanish royal family, where it remained until 1700. In 1768 it was sold in Paris, and that is about where the tracks went cold for over two centuries before it reappeared in 1987. London’s National Gallery of Art held the historic piece for a brief while in the 2000s before it disappeared again.
Now it is back in the public eye after a French couple, The Metropolitan Museum of Art board member and real estate mogul Mark Fisch and judge Rachel Davidson, go through a divorce, which sees the couple auctioning off prized pieces from the $230 million art collection.
Sotheby’s has valued the Rubens to somewhere in the neighborhood of US$36 million. A hefty price, but considering its mysterious past, it might seem worth it to some art collectors.
The downside to the sale is that it might go back into hiding as the open auction includes private collectors who are eyeing this elusive work. Until then, Sotheby’s is putting the Rubens on display til October 27. After that, it will be exhibited again between November 4 and 13 before heading off to its new home, wherever that might be.
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[via Hyperallergic and The Guardian, cover image via Sotheby’s]
