Daniel in the Lions' Den | |
---|---|
Year | c.1614–1616 |
Medium | oil paint, canvas |
Dimensions | 224.2 cm (88.3 in) × 330.5 cm (130.1 in) |
Location | National Gallery of Art |
Identifiers | RKDimages ID: 28802 |
Website | www |
Daniel in the Lions' Den is a painting from around 1615 by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens which is displayed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts Daniel in the event of Daniel in the Lions Den. The artwork was owned by Charles I of England after being given by Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester. Now, the painting hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
The reason why Rubens painted this piece and for whom it was originally intended is still unknown.. [1]
The painting was part of a negotiation between the artist and Carleton. Rubens negotiated with him to sell this painting along with works by his assistants, possibly including some painted by Jan Brueghel the Elder, in exchange for antique statues. Initially, Rubens offered 23 paintings, but Carleton only wanted those painted entirely by Rubens himself, including Prometheus Bound , as well as 3,000 guilders' worth of tapestries. However, Rubens negotiated to include more paintings for Carleton in exchange for an additional 1,000 guilders. They settled at that price, and Rubens exchanged his paintings and 2,000 guilders for the statues. Rubens saw this deal as a loss, with Carleton as the winner. [2] This negotiation was written in letter to Carleton on 28 April 1618. [3]
Later, Carleton presented it to Charles I as a form to advance his career as secretary of state in 1628. The painting was displayed in Bear Gallery at Palace of Whitehall, from around 1628 to 1641, in the formal reception area leading to his private chambers, as a symbol of his royal authority. This painting was hanged alongside, Minerva Protecting Peace from Mars which Rubens had gifted during his diplomatic mission to London, which lasted from May 1629 to March 1630. [1]
Charles I gifted the painting to his first cousin, James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton. The painting likely served as a symbol of Hamilton’s authority as the king’s representative in Scotland during the Bishops' Wars. [1] It remained at Hamilton Palace in Scotland until 1882, when it was part of the Hamilton Palace sale. At some point between 1882 and 1919, the painting was bought back by the Hamilton family, only for the painting to be included in the final sale of Hamilton Palace in 1919. It was sold in 1963 to the Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. He then sold it to art dealer M. Knoedler, who sold it to the United States, which passed it on in 1965 to the National Gallery of Art, where it now hangs. [4]
The size of the painting is approximately 224 x 330 cm which made up by oil paint and painted in canvas. [5]
The subject is from the Book of Daniel, 6:1–28. Rubens modeled the lions on a Moroccan subspecies, examples of which were then in the Spanish governor's menagerie in Brussels.
In 1618, he acquired more than a hundred pieces of classical sculpture, in exchange for this painting, eight others, and a sum of money.
The painting shows Daniel as a young man. [6] However, according to Biblical chronology, Daniel would have been over eighty years old at the time of the incident. [7]
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