Christ Crowned with Thorns

Artist Dirck van Baburen (Dutch, 1595 - 1624)

Date1621/1622

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 51 3/8 x 67 3/8 inches (130.49 x 171.13 cm)
Framed: 63 3/4 x 80 1/8 x 4 1/4 inches (161.93 x 203.52 x 10.8 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust with assistance from the Helen F. Spencer Fund and gifts of Robert Lehman [by exchange]

Object number84-25

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

European Art

Terms

DescriptionFigural composition of six 3/4-length male figures pressed to front of picture plane against dark background with large fluted column in left half; Christ, right, with head bent towards center, chest bared wearing red cloak wrapped around left arm and waist; two peasant-type figures behind Christ, right and left, pressing thorns into his head; at left, group of three figures; two guards, one in foreground leaning back with left hand on pole facing proper left toward second guard who turns to face him, figure in red hat and cloak visible between the two guards.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Works of Art from Midland Houses, Birmingham City Art Gallery, Great Britain, July 18–September 6, 1953, no. 85.

Pictures from Locko Park, Derbyshire, Nottingham University Art Gallery, Nottingham, UK, February 9–March 19, 1968, no. 23.

Italian, Dutch, and Flemish Baroque Paintings, Colnaghi, New York, April 4–May 5, 1984, no. 1.

A Bountiful Decade, Selected Acquisitions, 1977-1987, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, October 14–December 6, 1987, no. 57.

Hollandische Malerei in Neuem Licht: Hendrick ter Brugghen und seine Zeitgenossen, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, November 13, 1986–January 12, 1987; Herzog Anton Ulrich – Museum, Braunschweig, Germany, February 12–April 12, 1987, no. 35.

Sinners and Saints, Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and His Dutch and Flemish Followers, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, September 27–December 13, 1998; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, January 29–April 18, 1999; The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, May 8–July 18, 1999, no. 4.

Masters of Light: Dutch Paintings in Utrecht During the Golden Age, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 13 September-30 November, 1997; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 11 January–5 April, 1998; National Gallery, London, 6 May–2 August, 1998, no. 7.

Bodies and Shadows: Caravaggio and His Legacy, Musée Fabre de Montpellier Agglomération and Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, June 23–October 14, 2012; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 11, 2012–February 10, 2013; Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, March 8–June 16, 2013, no. 36.

Gallery Label

Dirck van Baburen was born in Utrecht, but studied in Rome where he and fellow countryman, Hendrick Terbrugghen, were greatly influenced by the realism of Caravaggio. The brutality of this scene also reflects the tradition in northern Europe of rejecting idealism in favor of realism. Baburen enhances this approach by depicting the two figures at the left of the painting in 17th-century contemporary armor and dress. By doing so, he makes a connection with the 17th-century viewer's own time and reinforces the Counter Reformation's goal of increasing the dramatic, emotional and spiritual impact of the subject matter.

Provenance

William Drury-Lowe, Esq. (1802-1877), Locko Park, Derbyshire, England, as by Caravaggio, by 1857-1877 [1];

By descent to his son, William Drury Nathaniel Drury-Lowe (1828-1906), Locko Park, Derbyshire, England, 1877-1906;

By descent to his son, William Drury-Lowe (1877-1916), Locko Park, Derbyshire, England, 1906-1916;

Inherited by his brother, John A. E. Drury-Lowe (1881-1949), Locko Park, Derbyshire, England, 1916;

By descent to his grandson, Captain Patrick John Boteler Drury-Lowe (1931-1993), Locko Park, Derbyshire, England, 1960-1979;

Purchased from Drury-Lowe by Marlborough Fine Art, London, on joint account with P. and D. Colnaghi, London and New York, Edward Speelman Ltd., London, and Allwa AG, Switzerland, by 1984 [2];

Purchased from Colnaghi by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1984.

NOTES:

[1] Leonard J. Slatkes, Dirck van Baburen (Utrecht: Haentjens Dekker & Gumbert, 1965), 121, indicates that William Drury-Lowe possibly acquired the painting in Italy as early as 1845.

[2] Colnaghi Archive, Waddesdon Manor, Windmill Hill, Aylesbury Vale Parkway, UK.

Published References

Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain. Supplement, vol. 4 (London: John Murray, 1857), 497, as by Caravaggio.

Jean-Paul Richter, Catalogue of Pictures at Locko Park (London: Bemrose and Sons, 1901), 13, as by a member of the Bolognese school.

E. K. Waterhouse, “Some Notes on the Exhibition of ‘Works of Art from Midland Houses’ at Birmingham,” The Burlington Magazine 95, no. 606 (1953): 306, 307, (repro.).

“Notable Works of Art Now on the Market: Advertisement Supplement,” The Burlington Magazine 99 (December, 1957), unpaginated, (repro.).

Benedict Nicolson, “Terbrugghen Repeating Himself,” in Miscellanea Professor Dr. D. Roggen (Antwerp: Uitgeverij de Sikkel, 1957), 193.

R. Richard Judson, “Review of Benedict Nicolson, Hendrick Terbrugghen,” The Art Bulletin 43 (1961), 346.

Leonard J. Slatkes, Dirck van Baburen (c. 1595–1624): A Dutch Painter in Utrecht and Rome (Utrecht: Haentjens Dekker & Gumbert, 1965), no. A18, pp. 63–68, 63n29, 67n44, 74, 75, 121–122, (repro.).

Seymour Slive, Jakob Rosenberg, and E.H. ter Kuile, Dutch Art and Architecture, 1600 to 1800 (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1966), 28.

Alastair Smart, “The Locko Park Collection,” Apollo 87 (March 1968): 206, (repro.).

George Hartman-Hughes, ed. Pictures from Locko Park, Derbyshire (Collection of Captain P.J.B. Drury- Lowe), exh. cat. (Nottingham: Nottingham University Art Gallery, 1968), unpaginated, (repro.).

John Cornforth, “Locko Park, Derbyshire-II: The Seat of Captain P.J.B. Drury-Lowe,” Country Life 145, no. 3771 (June 12, 1969): 1507–1508.

Evelina Borea, Caravaggio e Caravaggeschi nelle gallerie di Firenze (Florence: Sansoni, 1970), 16–17.

“Caravaggio and His Circle in the British Isles,” The Burlington Magazine 116 (1974): 559–560.

Richard Calvocoressi, “Locko Park: An Important Family Collection,” Connoisseur 192, no. 772 (1976): 141, 143, (repro.).

Arnauld Brejon, “New Paintings by Bartolommeo Manfredi,” The Burlington Magazine 121, no. 914 (May 1979): 309.

P. Dirksen, “De Doornenkroning, Dirck van Baburen, ca. 1595–1624,” Verslag Vereniging Rembrandt's-Gravenhage (1979): 24.

Benedict Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, 2nd. ed. (1979; Torino: Umberto Allemandi, 1989), 1:54; 3: unpaginated, (repro.).

Benedict Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement: Lists of Pictures by Caravaggio and his Followers throughout Europe from 1590 to 1650 (Oxford: Phaidon, 1979), 18.

Erik de Jong, Een schilderij central (3): De Slapende Mars van Hendrick ter Brugghen (Utrecht: Centraal Museum, 1980), 30n32.

Leonard J. Slatkes, “Review of Benedict Nicolson, The International Caravaggesque Movement,” Simiolus 12 (1981–1982): 177.

Alexander Robertson and Christopher Wright, Dutch Seventeenth Century Paintings from Yorkshire Public Collections, exh. cat. (Leeds: Leeds City Art Gallery, 1982), 8.

Stephen Pepper, “Baroque Painting at Colnaghi’s New York,” The Burlington Magazine 126, no. 974 (1984): 313, 315–316 (repro.).

Italian, Dutch, and Flemish Baroque Paintings, exh. cat. (New York: Colnaghi, 1984), unpaginated, (repro.).

“Notable Caravaggesque Painting Added to the Collection, “The Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art Calendar of Events (March 1985): 2, (repro).

“Some Acquisitions of Seventeenth Century Art in American Museums,” The Burlington Magazine 127, no. 988 (1985): 2, (repro.).

“Museum and Departmental Announcements,” Midwest Art History Society Newsletter, no. 13B (Spring 1986): 6, (repro).

Peter Hecht and Ger Luijten, “Nederland verzamelt oude meesters. Tien jaar aankopen en achtergronden,” Kunstschrift/Openbaar Kunstbezit 30, no. 6 (1986): 212.

Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America (Washington D.C.: The Netherlands–American Amity Trust, 1986), 124, (repro.).

Albert Blankert and Leonard J. Slatkes, Hollandische Malerei in Neuem Licht: Hendrick ter Brugghen und seine Zeitgenossen, exh. cat. (Utrecht: Centraal Museum Utrecht, 1987), 176, 182–184, (repro.).

Mina Gregori, et al., Dopo Caravaggio: Bartolomeo Manfredi e la Manfrediana Methodus, exh. cat. (Cremona: Museo Civico ala Ponzone, 1987), 98.

Hugh Brigstocke, “Cremona: Manfredi e la Manfrediana Methodus,” The Burlington Magazine 130 (1988): 877.

Ellen R. Goheen, The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1988), 53, 54, 57, (repro.).

Rüdiger Klessmann, ed., Hendrick ter Brugghen und die Nachfolger Caravaggios in Holland (Braunschweig: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, 1988), 81, (repro.).

Nicholas H. J. Hall, Colnaghi in America: A Survey to Commemorate the First Decade of Colnaghi New York. (New York: Colnaghi, 1992), 60, 61, 129, (repro.).

Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée, “Le caravagisme en Europe: À propos de la réédition du Nicolson,” Gazette des Beaux–Arts 122 (1993): 208, 210.

J. Richard Judson, “A new Gerrit van Honthorst: Christ Crowned with Thorns,” Nationalmuseum Bulletin 17, no. 2 (1993): 48n3.

Irene Baldriga and Silvia Danesi Squarzina, ‘Fiamenghi che vanno e vengono non li si puol dar regola.’ Paesi Bassi e Italia fra Cinquento e Seicento: pittura, storia e cultura degli emblemi (Rome: Apeiron, 1995), 170n16, 171, 181n62.

Jane Turner, ed., The Dictionary of Art, vol. 3 (New York: Grove, 1996), 8.

Joaneath Spicer, ed., Masters of Light: Dutch painters in Utrecht during the Golden Age, exh. cat. (Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery, 1997), 16, 20, 148, 149, 150, 151, (repro.).

Dennis P. Weller, Sinners and Saints, Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and His Dutch and Flemish Followers, exh. cat. (Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 29, 39, 41, 70–73, 96, 196, 207, (repro.).

J. Richard Judson and Rudolf E. O. Ekkart, Gerrit van Honthorst, 1592–1656 (Doornspijk: Davaco, 1999), 84n2.

Silvia Danesi Squarzina, ed., Caravaggio e Giustiniani; toccar con mano uno collezione de seicento, exh. cat. (Rome: Palazzo Giustiniani, 2001), 30.

Richard Beresford and Peter Raissi, The James Fairfax Collection of Old Master Paintings, Drawings and Prints (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2003), 44.

Edmund Capon et al., Darkness and Light: Caravaggio and His World, exh. cat. (Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2003), 110.

Marcus Dekiert, Musikanten in der Malerei der niederländischen Caravaggio-Nachfolge: Vorstufen, Ikonographie und Bedeutungsgehalt der Musikszene in der niederländischen Bildkunst des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts (Münster: LIT, 2003), 264n974.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Newsletter (May-June, 2004): 7.

Alice Thorson, “Art: Dirck van Baburen’s ‘Christ Crowned with Thorns’,” The Kansas City Star (May 20, 2004): E3, (repro.).

Nicole Hartje, Bartolomeo Manfredi 1582–1622): Ein Nachfolger Caravaggios und seine europäische Wirkung. Monographie und Werkzeichnis (Weimar: VDG, 2004), 21, 152–156, 373, (repro.).

Vittorio Sgarbi et al., Caravaggio e l’Europa; il movimento caravaggesco internazionale da Caravaggio a Mattia Preti, exh. cat. (Milan: Palazzo Reale, 2005), 290, 358.

Leonard J. Slatkes and Wayne Frantis, The Paintings of Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1588–1629: Catalogue raisonné (Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007), 20, 81, 99, 121, 126, (repro.).

Xander van Eck, Clandestine Splendor; Paintings for the Catholic Church in the Dutch Republic (Zwolle: Waanders, 2008), 77.

Jochen Sander et al., Caravaggio in Holland: Musik und Genre bei Caravaggio und den Utrechter Caravaggisten, exh. cat. (Frankfurt am Main: Städel Museum, 2009), 110, (repro.).

Dennis P. Weller, Seventeenth–Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings: the Collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh (Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2009), 35, (repro.).

Jeremy Howard, Colnaghi: The History (London: Colnaghi, 2010), 51.

Didier Rykner, “Bodies and Shadows, Caravaggio and European Caravaggism,” The Art Tribune, August 13, 2012, http://www.thearttribune.com/Bodies-and-Shadows-Caravaggio-and.html.

Michel Hilaire and Axel Hémery, eds. Corps et Ombres: Caravage et les Caravagisme Européen, exh. cat. (Milan: Five Continents, 2012), 220, 221, (repro.).

J. Patrice Marandel, ed. Caravaggio and His Legacy, exh. cat. (Munich, London and New York: Prestel Verlag, 2012), 112, 113, 162, 163, (repro.).

Rossella Vodret, ed., Roma al tempo di Caravaggio, 1600–1630, exh. cat. (Milan: Skira, 2012), 350.

Wayne Franits, The Paintings of Dirck van Baburen, ca. 1592/93 –1624: Catalogue Raisonné Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, 2013), no. A17, pp. 38–40, 113–115, 139, 292, (repro.).

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