The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Portrait of Isabella Brant
c. 1620–25
(Flemish, 1577–1640)
Framed: 83 x 73.5 x 9 cm (32 11/16 x 28 15/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 53 x 46 cm (20 7/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1947.207
Location: 212 Baroque Painting and Sculpture
Did You Know?
First, Rubens painted Isabella’s face, then at a later date he added hands.Description
Isabella Brant was Rubens’s first wife. He painted her many times in many different ways before she died at the age of 35 (she is a model for a nymph in the other work by Rubens in this room). This intimate portrait, painted at least five years before her death, suggests the close relationship between the painter and sitter through the warm palette, the luscious brushstrokes, and her lively expression.- 1947-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio1947Rosenberg and Stiebel and Pinakos, Inc./Rudolf Heinemann, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1930-1947Heirs of Marcus Kappel, sold to Rosenberg and Stiebel with Pinakos, Inc./Rudolf Heinemann1930(Kappel estate sale, Paul Cassirer und Hugo Helbing, Berlin, Nov. 25, 1930, no. 16, withdrawn)1919-1930Estate of Marcus Kappel1914-1919Marcus Kappel [1839-1919], Berlin1914(Hugh Blaker [1873–1936], Old Isleworth, Middlesex, England, sold to Marcus Kappel1914(Glanusk sale, Sotheby's, London, April 29, 1914, no. 88, sold to Hugh Blaker)1914Lord GlanuskProvenance Footnotes1 Burchard and Raphael Rosenberg first began corresponding about the Rubens in March 1945, and it seems that Rosenberg and Stiebel made the decision to purchase the painting that month. Saemy Rosenberg mentions a letter of March 27, 1945 in which Raphael Rosenberg writes that Burchard’s “favorable opinion” of the Rubens “encouraged [them] to buy the painting.” Several photographs in the Rubenianum’s file on the painting are marked with annotations stating that the painting was with Rosenberg and Stiebel beginning in November 1945, the month in which the purchase must have taken place. Pinakos, Inc., owned by Rudolf Heinemann, often partnered with Rosenberg and Stiebel in the purchase of paintings. Each firm owned a half-share in the Rubens painting, but because Pinakos is not mentioned in the above correspondence, Rosenberg and Stiebel may have sold the half-share following their initial purchase of the painting in November 1945. In the fall of 1946, CMA director William Milliken and curator Henry Sayles Francis saw the painting at Rosenberg and Stiebel in New York, but at the time, the museum was not in a position to purchase it. In April 1947, Francis writes to Saemy Rosenberg to say that the museum would like to consider the painting, if it was still available, for the collection.2 It is unclear which Kappel heirs inherited the Rubens and ultimately sold it to Rosenberg and Stiebel, whose files apparently do not name the seller of the painting. In a letter to Raphael Rosenberg dated May 28th, 1946, Ludwig Burchard simply states: “after Marcus Kappel’s death, the picture remained in the possession of the family.” A notation on the back of photograph of the Rubens in the files of the Rubenianum reads, “Nov. 1945 in America den Kappel-Erben abgekauft von Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York.” The heir(s) may have been Ellen Rathenau-Ettlinger and/or Ernst Rathenau, Kappel’s grandchildren, who inherited a number of works from their grandfather’s collection. While there is no definitive confirmation that they were in possession of the painting throughout the war, there is also no indication that they were not, and no documentation suggests that the painting was seized by the Nazis.3 An annotation in the Rubenianum's copy of this sale catalogue indicates that the painting was withdrawn because it failed to meet its reserve price: "Limite R[eichs] M[ark] 150.000". Rubens scholar Ludwig Burchard wrote on the back of one of the Rubenianum's file photographs of the Rubens, “Photo Erhalten 27. Febr. 1930 durch Caspari, München.” The role Galerie Caspari played, if any, in the painting’s provenance is unclear. The gallery may have merely supplied the photograph. However, Caspari and Cassirer do appear adjacent to one another in the provenances of several other paintings, and so some transaction involving the painting may have taken place; perhaps the Kappel heirs first consigned the painting to Galerie Caspari, and after it failed to sell, it was consigned to Cassirer/Helbing for sale at auction.4 It is not certain whether Blaker acted as owner or dealer in this case, but given that he dealt in Old Masters and had the painting for no more than a year, the latter is more likely.
- nullVlieghe, Hans, Ludwig Burchard, and Antoine Seilern. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Peter Paul Rubens Based on the Material Assembled by the Late Dr. Ludwig Burchard in Twenty-Six Parts ; Part 19. London: H. Miller, 1987.Jaffé, Michael. Rubens: catalogo completo. Milano: Rizzoli, 1989.Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, March 15, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.Bert Watteuw, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 27, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.Henry Sayles Francis, letter to Saemy Rosenberg, April 9, 1947, in CMA curatorial file.Vlieghe, Hans, Ludwig Burchard, and Antoine Seilern. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Peter Paul Rubens Based on the Material Assembled by the Late Dr. Ludwig Burchard in Twenty-Six Parts ; Part 19. London: H. Miller, 1987.Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, March 15, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.Bert Watteuw, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 27, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.Bert Watteuw, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 13, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.Bert Watteuw, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 23, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.Walter Feilchenfeldt, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Dec. 12, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.Bert Watteuw, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 27, 2014, in CMA curatorial fileGerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, June 26, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.Gerald Stiebel, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Sept. 19, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.Vlieghe, Hans, Ludwig Burchard, and Antoine Seilern. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Peter Paul Rubens Based on the Material Assembled by the Late Dr. Ludwig Burchard in Twenty-Six Parts; Part 19. London: H. Miller, 1987.Jaffé, Michael. Rubens: catalogo completo. Milano: Rizzoli, 1989.Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (London). Catalogue of Ancient and Modern Pictures and Drawings in Water-Colours and Pastel Comprising Properties from Various Sources and Private Collections, and Including the Property of Lord Glanusk. April 29, 1914.Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge (London). Catalogue of Ancient and Modern Pictures and Drawings in Water-Colours and Pastel Comprising Properties from Various Sources and Private Collections, and Including the Property of Lord Glanusk. April 29, 1914.Glück, Gustav. Rubens, Van Dyck und ihr Kreis. Wien, Austria: Schroll, 1933. Reproduced: p. 95, 385Gijsen, Marnix, and Julius S. Held. Rubens in America. New York, NY: Pantheon, 1947. Reproduced: p. 26, pl. XIThe Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXIV, (December, 1947): 247-249. Mentioned: p. 247-249; Reproduced: p. 245 (cover)Art Gallery of Toronto. Fifty Paintings by Old Masters. The Art Gallery of Toronto. April 21-May 21, 1950. Toronto, Ontario,1950. Reproduced: no. 40Bode, Wilhelm von, and Eduard Plietzsch. Die Meister der holländischen und flämischen Malerschulen. Leipzig, Germany: E.A. Seemann, 1951. Reproduced: p. 417; Mentioned: p. 425Larsen, Erik. P.P. Rubens. Antwerp, Belgium: De Sikkel, 1952. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 148-149The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 442 archive.orgMilliken, William Mathewson. The Cleveland Museum of Art. New York, NY: H.N. Abrams, 1958. Reproduced: p. 40Held, Julius S. Rubens; Selected Drawings. London, United Kingdom: Phaidon Press, 1959.Saisselin, Rémy G. Style, Truth, and the Portrait. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1963. Mentioned and reproduced: Cat. no. 21The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 119 archive.orgAymar, Gordon Christian. The Art of Portrait Painting; Portraits Through the Centuries As Seen Through the Eyes of a Practicing Portrait Painter. Philadelphia, PA: Chilton Book Co, 1967. Reproduced: p. 129, pl. 62Cabanne, Pierre. Rubens. London, United Kingdom : Thames & Hudson. 1967. Reproduced: p. 187The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 119 archive.orgRubens, Peter Paul, and Didier Bodart. Rubens e la pittura fiamminga del Seicento nelle collezioni pubbliche fiorentine = Rubens et la peinture flamande du XVIIème siècle dans les collections publiques florentines : Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, 22. VII-9.X. 1977 : catalogo. Firenze, Italy: Centro Di, 1977. Reproduced: p. 204, no. 85Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten. P.P. Rubens: Paintings-Oilsketches-Drawings : [Exhibition], 29th June-30th September 1977. Antwerp, Belgium: Royal Museum of Fine Arts, 1977. Reproduced: no. 50The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 154 archive.orgMorse, John D. Old Master Paintings in North America: Over 3000 Masterpieces by 50 Great Artists. New York, NY: Abbeville Press, 1979. Mentioned: p. 244Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 3. European paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue Series. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 24-28, fig. 10Heiden, Rüdiger an der. Peter Paul Rubens und die Bildnisse seiner Familie in der Alten Pinakothek. München, Germany: Hirmer, 1982. Mentioned: p. 12; Reproduced: p. 13, pl 6Larson, Dean M. Studying with the Masters: Lessons from Rubens, Velázquez, Turner, Degas, Monet, Sargent, Matisse. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1986. Reproduced: p. 15Gemäldegalerie (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz). Masterworks of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin: with a history of the collection. New York, NY: Abrams, 1986. Reproduced: p. 198Burchard, Ludwig. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné of the Work of Peter Paul Rubens Based on the Material Assembled by the Late Dr. Ludwig Burchard in Twenty-Six Parts. 1968. Reproduced: p. 54-55, vol.2Jaffé, Michael. Rubens: catalogo completo. Milano, Italy: Rizzoli, 1989. Mentioned: p. 264-265; Reproduced: no, 786Cleveland Museum of Art. Interpretations: Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: no. 18Masterpieces from East and West. New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992. Reproduced: p. 118Bauman, Guy, and Walter A. Liedtke. Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America. Antwerp, Belgium: Fonds Mercator, 1992. Reproduced: p. 359, fig. 391Takahashi, Yūko. Rūbensu = Peter Paul Rubens. Tōkyō, Japan: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1993. Reproduced: p. 36, no. 33Mallory, Nina A. La pintura flamenca del siglo XVII. Madrid, Spain: Alianza, 1995. Reproduced: p. 136Dalemans, René, and Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens et son temps. Brussels, Belgium: Editions Artis-Historia, 2000. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 70-71Jiminez, Jill Berk, and Joanna Banham. Dictionary of Artists' Models. London, United Kingdom: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001. Reproduced: p. 80Rubens: Lille, Palais Des Beaux-Arts, 6 March-14 June 2004. Gent, Belgium: Snoeck, 2004. Reproduced: p. 128, no. 68; Mentioned: p.130Schröder,Klaus Albrecht, Heinz Widauer, and Anne-Marie S. Logan. Peter Paul Rubens. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2004. Reproduced: p. 350, fig. 1Tijs, Rutger J. De andere Rubens: activiteiten, interesses, leefwereld. Leuven, Belgium: Davidsfonds, 2004. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 216-217Brejon de Lavergnée, Barbara, Michèle Moyne, and Annie Scottez-De Wambrechies. Catalogue des dessins français du XIXe siècle: collection du Palais des beaux-arts de Lille. Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2004. Reproduced: p. 128, 130Wheelock, Arthur K. Flemish Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 2005. Reproduced: p. 38, fig. 2Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Reproduced: 186-187Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. London, United Kingdom: Scala Books, 2012. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 186-187Vergara, Alexander, and Friso Lammertse. The Young Van Dyck. London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson. 2013. Reproduced: p. 330, fig. 113Beneden, Ben van, and Nils Büttner. Rubens in Private: The Master Portrays His Family. London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2015.Cuzin, Jean-Pierre, et. al. Le Saint Joseph Charpentier de Georges de la Tour: Un Don au Louvre de Percy Moore Turner. [Gent]: Snoeck, 2017. Mentioned: p. 225 & 492, n. 2696; p. 230 & 493, n. 2773Hauspie, Gunter. The Peter Paul Rubens Atlas. Tiel: Lannoo, 2018. Reproduced: p. 87Dijn, Rosine de. De vrouwen van Rubens. Kalmthout, België: Polis, 2018. Reproduced: p.[9]; color plate sectionLyon, J. Vanessa. Figuring Faith and Female Power in the Art of Rubens. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 74-75, fig. 1.22Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Picture Book No. 4 . [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952. Reproduced: p. 27 archive.org
- The Early Celebrity of Peter Paul Rubens. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (April 6-September 2, 2019); Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (October 5, 2019-January 5, 2020).Rubens in Private. Rubenshuis, Antwerpen, Belgium (organizer) (March 28-June 28, 2015).Rubenshuis, Antwerp, Belgium (3/28/2015 - 6/28/2015): "Rubens in Private"Rubens. Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille, Lille, France (organizer) (March 6-June 14, 2004).Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille "Rubens": (3/6/2004 - 6/14/2004), exh. cat. no. 68, p. 128,130.Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).Portraiture: The Image of the Individual, November 22, 1983- January 1984, The Cleveland Museum of Art (checklist)Peter Paul Rubens. Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (organizer) (June 28-October 2, 1977).A Tribute to Rubens: 400th anniversary of Peter Paul Rubens' Birth. The Cleveland Museum of Art, May- June 1977. (No catalogue: see label copy.)Belgium, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 1977: "P.P Rubens: Paintings, Oil Sketches, Drawings," cat. no. 58, repr.P. P. Rubens Paintings, Oil Sketches, Drawings, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 1977, cat. no. 58, illus.Style, Truth and the Portrait. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 1-November 19, 1963).Style, Truth and the Portrait, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 1- Nov. 10, 1963, no. 21 (repr.) June 29- September 30, 1977.Fifty Paintings by Old Masters, Art Gallery of Toronto, April 21- May 21, 1950, no. 40.Classic to Baroque: A Style Change in the Arts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 30-November 13, 1949).
- {{cite web|title=Portrait of Isabella Brant|url=false|author=Peter Paul Rubens|year=c. 1620–25|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
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https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.207