Tests show Rubens’ art, prized by the National Gallery, isn’t his

Here we go again. Like a recurring dream that leaves you baffled, a painting by Peter Paul Rubens is called a fake. (Yawn).

In 2001 I reported one such claim when Dr. Carina Popovici’s technological tests of brushwork in the 1609 painting “Samson and Delilah” proved he didn’t do it.

The National Gallery purchased the painting from Christie’s in 1980 for a record $5 million, and to date has disregarded Popovici’s tests. The painting describes the moment when Delilah seduced him in order to rob him of his superhuman strength – his hair.

Popovici, a Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics, said the tests were conducted by the Swiss-based tech company Art Recognition (which she co-owns), making the case that the painting wasn’t even made in Ruben’s century.

As she put it, “The algorithm has returned a 91 percent probability for the artwork not being authentic,” adding that she was “shocked” by the results.

“Shocked”? If she knew of Ruben's history as well as his brush marks, she’d know that there are several reasons for others to have had a hand in his work.

For one thing, his pictures are huge (“Sampson and Delilah” measures 73 in x 81 in), and therefore required a team of assistants to help paint them.

And because Rubens was an extremely popular painter who received a lot of commissions (Royalty loved to grace their palace walls with his work), again his work called for assistants.

He also needed help on account of commitments outside of his studio. He was an envoy of Flanders, decreed by The Infanta Isabella, and served a diplomatic role in 17th-century European politics. .

Then there was Rubens’ happy home life to attend to with his wife and eight children. (Those numerous cherubs you see in his paintings were modeled after his infants.

. None of this is a secret. Art history has noted other hands in Rubens’ work long before Popovici.

Anthony Jansson asserted in his 1986 book “Great Paintings from the John and Mable Ringling Museums of Art” that

“the museum’s set of Rubens paintings are not necessarily by his hand.”

And when it comes to one of the largest Ringling Rubens, “The Triumph of Divine Love,” measuring a whopping 152 in x 204 in, Janson said it shows “the fewest signs of his intervention.”

Given that Rubens's paintings are well-known to be partly painted by others, Popovici’s shock conjures up the French police captain Renault in the ’42 flick Casablanca exclaiming in Rick’s Cafe, “I’m shocked, shocked that gambling is going on in here,” as a croupier hands him his winnings.

Maybe scientists should leave art discoveries to the art world and work to discover cures for the sick.

Like

Comment

Send

Share