facing the past
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Sir Anthony van Dyck ( 1599 – 1641)
Man of Sorrows (or Ecce Homo): An unfinished study Oil on canvas: 44 ½ x 32 in. (113 x 81 cm.) Painted c.1622 – 1625 Provenance Private collection, Scotland; Sold Christie’s, 20 July 1990, lot 176, (as ‘Follower of Sir Anthony van Dyck’); Dr. Malcolm Rogers, Boston, USA; Malcolm Rogers Charitable Trust.
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his hitherto unpublished painting represents a major and fascinating new addition to Van Dyck’s oeuvre. A beautiful and moving work, it was unknown until it first appeared at auction at Christie’s in 1990, catalogued as ‘follower of Van Dyck’. Its significance was recognized at the time by Dr Malcolm Rogers, now the Director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and an eminent Van Dyck scholar in his own right, who acquired the painting for his personal collection. Subsequent cleaning and conservation has confirmed the unfinished state of the work, which can be considered in effect as a large scale study. Van Dyck’s development of the Man of Sorrows(or Ecce Homo) theme, which culminates in the painting in the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham 1 (fig.1) springs above all from his exploration of Titian, arguably 2 the artist whom he most admired, and who had the greatest influence on his work.
The first stage of this development is seen in the Italian Sketchbook (British Museum), used by Van Dyck during his first three years in Italy (1622–1624), where there are numerous vivid sketches of paintings by other artists that he saw on his travels. Notably, five consecutive pages are devoted to the intimately related subjects of the The Man of Sorrows, The Mocking of Christ and The Carrying of the Cross . On folio 20 versois a small sketch after Titian of The Man of Sorrows. This thumb-nail sketch was the catalyst for Van Dyck’s own explo ration of the theme, which he developed first in a mediumsized oil sketch on paper in The Courtauld Institute, London (for merly in the Seilern Collection, Prince’s Gate, London), which is likely to date from the artist’s first years in Italy c.1622 (fig.2). 3
1. S. J. Barnes, N. de Poorter, O. Millar & H. Vey, Van Dyck, A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings , New Haven & London, 2004, II, p.146, no.10. This painting which was painted for the Balbi family, one of Van Dyck’s greatest patrons, remained in Genoa until 1810. 2. Van Dyck himself owned an Ecce Homo by Titian ( J. MuellerRostock, ‘Ein Verzeichnis von Bildern aus dem Besitze des Van Dyck’, Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, 1922, pp.22-24. 3. Ibid, II, p.156, no. 9. Oil on paper: 28 x 21 1⁄4 in. (71 x 54 cm.).
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Between the pen and ink sketch after Titian and Van Dyck’s initial response, there are numerous larger and smaller changes. Firstly, in the Courtauld sketch Christ’s downcast head, much less heav ily bearded and younger, is now turned to the left rather than the right and is also slightly raised; next, the draperies on his right shoulder in the drawing have been
Fig.1 Man of Sorrows c.1625 – 1628 Oil on canvas: 39 3⁄4 x 29 3⁄4 in. (101.5 x 78.5 cm.) © Barber Institute, Birmingham