Attributed to Pieter van Mol (1599-1650) : Portrait of a Magus - Flemish School

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Attributed to Pieter van Mol (1599-1650) : Portrait of a Magus - Flemish School
ca. 1630

About the Item

In this powerful painting, Pieter van Mol presents the paradoxical figure of an old man carrying a ciborium full of gold coins, illuminated by a ray of light. The most plausible interpretation of this painting is that it represents the oldest of the three Magi (St. Melchior or St. Gaspard), bringing gold as a present to the newly born Jesus. 1. Pieter van Mol, a painter from Antwerp living in Paris The life and work of Pieter van Mol are not well known. He became a master of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1623 after years of apprenticeship, perhaps with Artus Wolffort (1581 - 1641). Pieter van Mol then probably went to Paris with Pierre-Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) to participate in painting the Galerie du Luxembourg for Marie de Medicis from 1622 to 1624. Van Mol opened a studio in Paris in 1631. He was quickly successful, becoming Painter to the King (Louis XIII) in 1637, then Painter to the Queen (Anne of Austria) in 1642. He became a founding member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648. He was married in the church of Saint-Sulpice in 1640 and had eight children. With the exception of a few portraits, his work consists mainly of religious and mythological subjects. For example, in 1643, the Flemish Confraternity commissioned him to paint the Adoration of the Shepherds for the church of Saint-Germain des Prés, which is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Marseille. The attribution of this particular painting to Pieter van Mol is based on the very strong resemblance between the figure represented in our painting and the figure of Diogenes in the painting entitled Diogenes seeking a man, which is kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orléans. As was often the case in the workshops of this time, artists reused the same model to portray two very different characters in two paintings which were probably painted around the same time, i.e. around 1630. 2. Description of the work and history of the Three Kings An old man with almond-shaped eyes and an imposing white beard is shown in profile. His face and shoulders are illuminated by a slanting ray of light, while his hands remain in shadow. A glittering red cloak is draped over his shoulders and he holds the stem of a cup in his left hand. His right hand lifts the lid, revealing a multitude of large gold coins, all different, and a string of pearls hanging from the rim of the cup. The left hand is represented in an almost photographic manner. Beneath the red cloak, the sleeve of a green velvet suit, bordered with very fine lace, is visible. His slightly rolled-up sleeve reveals the wrist of an old man, whose skin has remained perfectly white while his hands have been faintly tanned by the sun. The folds of skin at the bottom of his wrist betray his age, while the grip of the hand that holds the ciborium appears vigorous and gives us an impression of the strength needed to carry this heavy load at arm's length. The right hand lifts the lid in a gesture of great delicacy that contrasts with the strength expressed by the left hand, just as the dirt under the fingernails contrasts with the refinement of the lace-lined sleeve and the magnificence of the cup. The story of the coming of the Magi is only told in the Gospel according to St Matthew (Mt 2:1-12). When they arrived in Jerusalem, they announced to King Herod that they were looking for the new-born King of the Jews. Herod told them that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, where they went, guided by a star. They discovered the child to whom they offered gold, incense and myrrh. After this meeting they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and went home by another route. While the Gospels are silent on the names of the Magi, their names appear in a sixth-century Greek manuscript that was adopted by the Church: Melchior, Gaspard and Balthasar. Different iconographic traditions are superimposed: they are sometimes represented as a young man, a middle-aged man and an old man (thus symbolising the three ages of Man) while the youngest (Balthasar) is sometimes represented as an African, to symbolise the universality of the Church. According to some sources, Melchior is the oldest of the three and is sometimes also called the King of Persia. The red cloak shown here is a symbol of royalty. In the eighth century, St Bede describes him as an old man with white hair and a long beard. According to other traditions, the oldest Magus is Saint Gaspard. But in all cases, it is the oldest of the three Magi who offers the gold, the most precious gift, symbolising Christ's royalty over the world. Various other details of this painting are consistent with this iconographic interpretation of the oldest of the Magi. The light that illuminates his face and shoulders can be considered to be the light of the star that guided him to the crib. The skin on his face and hands has been tanned by the sun during his long journey and his nails bear witness to the dust from that journey. In offering his gift, the whiteness of his wrist reveals that he belongs to the upper class, not usually exposed to the sun by working in the fields. The representation of the cup, tilted slightly towards the frame, is consistent with a gesture of offering, during which the Magus gives us a glimpse of its contents before offering it to the Infant Jesus. 3. A painter at the confluence of artistic movements The limited biographical information we have on the life of Pieter van Mol does not allow us to establish his career path precisely, nor whether he travelled beyond Antwerp and Paris, and in particular to Rome, the main European artistic centre in the 17th century. The painter who had the most obvious influence on Pieter van Mol is Rubens and it is interesting to mention the three portraits of the Magi painted in 1618 for his friend the printer Plantin. Below is his painting of the oldest Magus, carrying a golden cup filled with coins. This painting, although very different from ours, is worth mentioning because representations of the Magi as independent characters are extremely rare, and this series is the only one we have managed to identify. It is also interesting to note several elements in this painting that may evoke the influence of the work of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, better known as Caravaggio (1571 - 1610), such as the treatment of light and the naturalism of details. To illustrate these two points, here are details from two paintings by Caravaggio. The light, which shines obliquely on the Magus and continues on the wall behind, is irresistibly reminiscent of the light in The Vocation of Saint Matthew, painted by Caravaggio between 1599 and 1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of Saint-Louis-des-Français in Rome. The presence of dirt under the fingernails can be seen in the left hand of the adolescent Bacchus painted by Caravaggio around 1598 and kept in the Uffizi Museum in Florence. This detail is also in clear contrast with the refinement of Bacchus' tunic and of the cup of wine he offers to the viewer. 4. Christian symbolism The presence of the pearl necklace is more enigmatic because the pearl is not one of the offerings mentioned in the Gospel. In the collective imagination, pearls are associated with the East and with light. The specific luminosity reflected by a pearl is referred to as its "orient”, which means east in French. The presence of pearls in the Magus’ offering could therefore be an allusion to its oriental origin. The necklace has twenty-six pearls set apart from the cup. The number 26 has special significance in Hebrew religion, since the gematria of the tetragrammaton YHWH, the Hebrew name for God, is 26. These twenty-six pearls can also be interpreted as an allusion to the twenty-six generations separating King David and Christ (according to the gospel of St. Matthew 1, 1-17). Another interesting interpretation of the symbolism of the pearl: its origin is deemed miraculous (following the belief that the oyster that produces the pearl was "fertilised" by the light of the sun and the moon), and in Christian religion it became the symbol of the virgin birth of Jesus, as well as a symbol of Christ himself, as the light that came to enlighten the world. The pearl necklace could be interpreted as a metonymic representation of the Nativity: while only the Magus offering the cup filled with gold coins is depicted, the recipient would be symbolised by the pearl necklace, and thus integrated into the representation without appearing in it. Another element of the composition refers directly to Christ's iconography: the red cloak with which the Magus is clothed evokes the purple cloak with which the soldiers clothed Christ after scourging him and crowning him with thorns (Gospel according to Saint John 19: 1-5). More disturbingly, the shape of the golden cup that the Magus holds at arm's length is reminiscent of a ciborium, the piece of silverware used in the Christian liturgy to hold communion wafers ... and the gold coins themselves look very much like wafers! In this sense, our painting represents the image of a more complex religious meditation. The Magus, who has come to adore the Holy Child and to reveal his spiritual royalty to the world becomes the herald of the future Passion of Christ. As a symbol of the universal church that welcomes believers from all horizons, the Magus brings an offering that in turn announces the Mystery of the Eucharist, i.e. the commemoration of the Passion of Christ for the salvation of all. The semantic richness of this painting leads us to formulate the hypothesis that it could be a painting destined for the study of a major patron, perhaps ecclesiastic, and was very likely accompanied by other paintings of the same format enabling further meditation. Main bibliographical references: Under the direction of Guillaume Kazerouni - Les couleurs du Ciel Peinture des Eglises de Paris au XVIIe siècle - Paris 2013 Nadia Ibrahim Fredrikson - The pearl, between the ocean and the sky - origins and evolution of a Christian symbol - Revue de l'histoire des religions 2003

Attributed to:
Pieter van Mol (1599 - 1650, Flemish)
Creation Year:
ca. 1630
Dimensions:
Height: 36.23 in (92 cm)Width: 28.75 in (73 cm)
Medium:
Oil
Movement & Style:
Old Masters
Period:
17th Century
Condition:
Mecca gilded frame - Italy, 17th century Mecca is a shellac-based varnish which, when applied to an object coated with silver leaf, gives it the appearance of gold leaf. 92x73 cm (115x95 cm framed) This painting has been restored - CR on request.
Gallery Location:
PARIS, FR
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU156828181022

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