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Weite bewaldete, gebirgige Küstenlandschaft mit dem von Räubern entführten Liebespaar Theagenes und Chariklea, Öl auf Leinwand, 105 x 148 cm, gerahmt, (Wo) Drs. Luuk Pijl,Verfasser des in Arbeit befindlichen Werksverzeichnisses von Paul Bril nennt das vorliegende, bisher unbekannte und unpublizierte, von ihm im Original geprüfte Gemälde “eines der besten Werke des Malers” (siehe Gutachten). Gutachten: Drs. Luuk Pijl, 25. Jänner 2005: “The present painting has been examined by the undersigned, under excellent conditions, in Vienna on December 18th 2004.The work in question is well preserved and a fully autograph painting by the Flemish-Roman painter Paul Bril. Although virtually unknown today the ‘Aethiopica’ was popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. A French translation appeared from 1547 onwards in several editions. An important edition with engravings by Crispijn van de Passe appeared in Paris in 1624.The subject was thought to be suitable for palatial decorations. In the king’s apartment at Fontainebleau the story was depicted by Ambroise Dubois in 1609/10. Abraham Bloemaert received in 1625 from Frederik Hendrik of Nassau, prince of Orange, the commission to paint the story on the occasion of his marriage with Amalia van Solms. Bloemaert’s ‘Theagenes and Chariclea among the slain sailors’, now in Potsdam, Sanssouci shows the scene on the beach, which is rendered in Bril’s painting in the middle distance. (Marcel Roethlisberger and Marten Jan Bok, ‘Abraham Bloemaert and His Sons’, Doornspijk 1993, I, nr. 424, II, fig. 594). With its rare subject matter this well preserved painting is an important addition to the known oeuvre of Paul Bril. Stylistically the painting belongs to the works Bril painted during the last years of his prolific life, such as the fine ‘Landscape with Nymps and Satyrs’ in Oberlin, dated 1623, and the ‘Landscape with the Temptation of Christ’ in Birmingham, dated 1626. Given the similarities a date around 1625 for the present painting seems feasible. There can be little doubt that the work was a commission. The Painting demonstrates that Bril was a keen observer. Many details are masterfully rendered, such as the meticulous painted plants, trees, birds and the harbour in the distance.The sky shows a masterly painted sunset.The alternating zones of dark and light give the landsape a clear structure and also provide a convincing suggestion of depth. Paul Bril often relied on Northern and Italian figure painters for the staffage in his landscapes. (see: Luuk Pijl, ‘Collaborative paintings by Paul Bril’,The Burlington Magazine.) However, the figures in the present work are stylistically entirely in keeping with his own way of figure painting.They are unusual large in size: no other painting with figures of this scale is extant, which makes the painting even more important among Bril’s late works.The literary source and the sylvan mood make this type of painting interesting in connexion with the formative years of Claude Lorrain. Claude, who appeared in early 1620’s in the Roman art scene and would become the most important landscape painter in seventeenth century Europe, took this type of work as a point of departure for his own magical works.” Dr. Luisa Wood Ruby, Kuratorin in der Frick Collection New York, Verfasserin des Werksverzeichnisses der Zeichnungen Paul Brils, 31. Jänner 2005 (E-Mail), nach einem Foto: “... It confirmed my own favorable impression of this beautiful work, which... I would have no hesitation in attributing to Bril”. Literatur: The present picture “will be included as work of Paul Bril and produced in colour, in the catalogue raisonné, which is currently beeing compiled by the present author”. Vgl. Luuk Pijl, Collaborative paintings by Paul Bril,The Burlington Magazine, CXL,1998, p.600-667 Der einflussreichste italianisierende Landschaftsmaler seiner Zeit, Paul Bril, ist ab 1582 in Rom nachweisbar, wo er zahlreiche päpstliche Aufträge im Vatikan und in Kirchen und Villen in und um die Ewige Stadt ausführte. Paul Bril spielte in Rom nicht nur eine führende Rolle als Künstler, sondern auch im sozialen Leben. Er war principe der Accademia di San Luca wie Mitglied der Gesellschaft der Virtuosi al Pantheon. Er führte Jan Brueghel d.Ä., der von 1591 bis 1595 in Rom weilte, bei dem bedeutenden Förderer der Künstler Kardinal Federico Borromeo (1564 - 1631) ein. Er förderte Adam Elsheimer und Bartolomeus Breenberg durch viele Jahre und hinterließ ein reiches Werk an Fresken, Gemälden, Zeichnungen und Kupferstichen. Die im vorliegenden Gemälde dargestellte Szene ist der Geschichte von Theagenes und Chlariklea von dem Syrer Heliodorus entnommen. Theagenes, ein Abkömmling des Achilles und die äthiopische Prinzessin und Priesterin des Apollo waren ein Liebespaar. Sie wurden von Räubern gefangengenommen, deren Anführer Chariklea heiraten wollte. Im vorliegenden Gemälde sehen wir den gefesselten Theagenes auf einem Pferd und dahinter Chariklea, mit einem Lorbeerkranz gekrönt, gleichfalls zu Pferd. Die Geschichte hatte ein happy end mit der Heirat der beiden.
Siehe auch Vorwort dieses Kataloges