New Reading Hypothesis Links Rubens's Adorations in Fermo and Antwerp
A recent theory posits that Peter Paul Rubens's Adoration of the Shepherds, housed in Fermo's Pinacoteca Civica, served as a preliminary study for the later piece created for the Church of Saint Paul in Antwerp. Commissioned on 9 March 1608 by Father Flaminio Ricci for the Church of San Filippo, the contract called for a 'Nativity of Our Lord' measuring 13 palmi in height and 8 in width, featuring five figures, for a fee of 25 scudi. The Fermo artwork, produced during Rubens's Italian phase (1600–1608), acted as a 'general rehearsal' for the Antwerp project. Iconographic analysis reveals two shepherds as Saints James and Christopher, alongside angels, a love-symbolizing tree, and a purifying bonfire. Rodolfo Bersaglia's article appeared in Artribune.
Key facts
- The Adoration of the Shepherds in Fermo's Pinacoteca Civica was commissioned on 9 March 1608 by Father Flaminio Ricci.
- The contract specified a 'Nativity of Our Lord' with at least five large figures, measuring 13 palmi by 8 palmi, for 25 scudi.
- Rubens was in Italy from 1600 to 1608 and served at the court of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua.
- The Antwerp version was commissioned by the Order of Preachers and is discussed in Ludwig Burchard's Corpus Rubenianum.
- The two male shepherds are identified as Saints James and Christopher, who share a feast day on 25 July.
- Rubens depicted Saint Christopher on the reverse of a side panel of the Descent from the Cross triptych in Antwerp Cathedral (1611–1614).
- Rubens studied Andrea Mantegna's frescoes of Saints James and Christopher in the Ovetari Chapel, Church of the Eremitani, Padua (1448–1457).
- The two women adoring in the Fermo painting are identified as Salome and Zelomi from the apocryphal infancy gospels.
Entities
Artists
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Andrea Mantegna
- Correggio
- Vincenzo I Gonzaga
- Flaminio Ricci
- Pizio Costantini
- Ludwig Burchard
- Rodolfo Bersaglia
- Giorgio Vasari
- Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo
- Francesco Francellucci
- Filippo Neri
- Salome
- Zelomi
- Saint James
- Saint Christopher
- Saint Joseph
- Virgin Mary
- Jesus Christ
Institutions
- Pinacoteca Civica di Fermo
- Church of San Paolo, Antwerp
- Oratory of Rome
- Church of San Filippo
- Order of Preachers
- Arquebusiers' Guild
- Antwerp Cathedral
- Church of Sint-Jacobskerk
- Church of the Eremitani
- Ovetari Chapel
- National Gallery
- Artribune
- Fermo Musei
Locations
- Fermo
- Italy
- Antwerp
- Belgium
- Mantua
- Parma
- Rome
- Padua
- Santiago de Compostela
- Netherlands
- England
- Monte Tabor