Assumption of the Virgin by P.P. Rubens: On a Modello from 1611

An Assumption of the Virgin (c. 1611˗13) was painted by Rubens for the High Altar of Antwerp Cathedral and is now part of the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. On 22 April 1611, Rubens (successfully) submitted two modelli. One modello in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg is widely accepted as one of the two. The second has not been convincingly identified yet. Rubens’ Assumption of the Virgin in the Royal Collection in London (c. 1613 or later) has been the subject of much discussion. The (previously unpublished) panel that emerged in Antwerp a few years ago is therefore most interesting. Dendrochronological research (KIK-IRPA) has shown that its wooden panel (consisting of three oak planks) came from a tree cut down in about 1590. Our modello differs from the London version, for instance, in the Virgin’s right palm (turned upwards) and in two angels holding each other’s arm who appear to the right in a cloud. The question of Rubens’ Assumption of the Virgin of 1611 drew the attention of several art historians, many of them rejecting the London panel as clearly being of a later date. The comparison of the Hermitage modello with our picture supplies interesting analogies, like the representation of the young women on the left. Similarities in the faces of the angels carrying the Virgin and especially the angel with blonde hair are striking.