National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Head of One of the Three Kings: Melchior, The Assyrian King
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

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Inscription

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Marks and Labels

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Provenance

Balthasar Moretus the Elder [1574-1641], Antwerp; by inheritance to his nephew, Balthasar Moretus the Younger [1615-1674], Antwerp. Graaf Van de Werve de Vosselaer, Antwerp; (his sale, Antwerp, March 1781 [sold together with The Greek Magus and The Ethiopian Magus]);[1] Graaf de Roose, Antwerp; by inheritance to his wife, Graavin de Roose, Antwerp; (her estate sale, at her residence, Antwerp, 8 May 1798, no. 5, bought in by her daughter, Graavin de Beauffort);[2] by inheritance through the family de Beauffort to Comtesse Amedée de Beauffort, née de Roose de Baisy, Paris; (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 10 April 1876, no. 2);[3] John W. Wilson, Brussels and Paris; (his sale, at his residence, Paris, 14-16 March 1881, no. 98); Léon Gauchez [1825-1907], Paris.[4] private collection, London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 13 July 1889, no. 55 [sold together with The Greek Magus); Pryor.[5] Boesch collection, Vienna. (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 4 June 1891, no. 43); (Bourgeois & Cie, Paris).[6] (Durand-Ruel, Paris); sold 1892 to Charles H. Senff [d. 1911], New York and Whitestone, Long Island; (his estate sale, Anderson Galleries, 28-29 March 1928, 2nd day, no. 20); Charles Senff's niece, Mrs. Louise Senff Cameron, New Windsor, New York; (sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 9-11 April 1929, 2nd day, no. 154); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; gift 1943 to NGA.

[1] See Max Rooses, "Petrus-Paulus Rubens en Balthasar Moretus," Bulletin-Rubens 1 & 2, 1882-1883: 2(1883): 210. These three paintings remained together until the sale of John Wilson's collection in 1881. See note 4.

[2] According to Max Rooses, L'Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens: Histoire et Description de ses Tableaux et Dessins, 5 vols., Antwerp, 1886-1892: 1(1886): 225, although in an annotated copy of the auction catalog in the Frick Library, the buyer, who purchased all of the Rubens in the sale, is given as Me(s or r)ti(n or r)s. While this inscription is difficult to decipher, all subsequent literature, most significantly the catalogue of the Wilson sale of 1881, supports Rooses' assertion that the painting stayed within the family de Beaufort.

[3] See Rooses 1886-1892, 1(1886): 225.

[4] The identity of the painting's buyer is not entirely certain. Rooses 1882-1883, 2(1883): 209, states that Gauchez acquired both this painting and the Mage Grec and that the amounts he paid were respectively 15,500 Ffr. and 20,000 Ffr. In that same publication, Rooses identifies the buyer of the Mage Ithiopien as Petit, Paris, and indicates that the painting was sold for 17,600 Ffr. An annotated copy of the sales catalogue in the NGA Library confirms this information, and gives the name as "G. Petit." However, Rooses 1886-1892, 1(1886): 225, identifies the buyer of the first two paintings as M. Le Roy, and quotes a somewhat different price for the Mage Assyrien (15,100 Ffr.). He also identifies the buyer of the Mage Ithiopien as M. Secretan and notes that the price fetched by the painting was 17,000 Ffr. Another annotated copy of the sales catalogue, in the Knoedler Library French Sales microfiche, lists the prices as those quoted in Rooses 1882-1883, but does not indicate the names of the purchasers.

[5] Details of the sale, the buyer, and the amount paid for the painting are found in a newspaper clipping preserved in the Knoedler Library British Sales microfiche copy of the sales catalogue.

[6] According to annotated sales catalogue in the NGA Library.

Exhibition History

1873
Exposition de tableaux et dessins d'anciens maîtres, La société néerlandaise de bienfaisance, Brussels, 1873, no. 153.
1931
Renoir and His Tradition, Museum of French Art, French Institute in the United States, New York, 1931, no. 2.
1936
An Exhibition of Sixty Paintings and Some Drawings by Peter Paul Rubens, Detroit Institute of Arts, 1936, no. 13.
1939
Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 327.
1965
The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1943
Washington Times-Herald 18 July 1943:C-10
1965
Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 13, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 118
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 106, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 312, repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 360, repro.
2005
Wheelock, Jr., Arthur K. Flemish Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2005: 183-188, color repro.

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