ENTOURAGE OF SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577-1640) Samson... Lot 18

ENTOURAGE OF SIR PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577-1640) Samson and the lion inscribed "Rubens" (lower right) black stone, pen and brown ink, brown wash, traces of a watermark, pasted on all four edges on a 19th-century English mount bears inscription 'Rubens' (lower right) black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, traces of watermark, laid down on the four edges on an English XIXth century mount 13.8 x 9.7 cm (5 7/16 x 3 13/16 in) Footnotes: 彼得-保罗-鲁本斯(1577-1640) 身边的画家 参孙和狮子 碳粉，羽毛笔和棕色油墨，棕色水洗 Provenance Pierre Jean Mariette (1694-1774), his mark (L. 2097). Sir Robert Ludwig Mond (1867-1938), in 1937. Sale, London, Sotheby's, December 13, 1973, lot 90, as Rubens. Exhibition Paris, Didier Imbert Fine Art, '20 ans de Passion' Alain Delon, Dessins, Printemps 1990, no. 19, ill. as Rubens. Bibliography T. Borenius and R. Wittkower, Catalogue of the Collection of Drawings by the Old Masters, Formed by Sir Robert Mond, LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.S.A., London, 1937, p. 97, no. 370, ill. as Rubens. R.A. d'Hulst and M. Vandenven, Corpus Rubenianum, Part III. The Old Testament, London, 1989, p. 104, under no. 28, fig. 28, as a copy after Rubens. P. Rosenberg with the collaboration of M.-L. Chouery, Les dessins de la collection Mariette. Ecole flamande, hollandaise et allemande, Paris, 2022, vol. I, p. 300, no. N419, ill. as after Rubens. This drawing depicts the first of Samson's twelve heroic labors (Judges 14:5). Samson encounters a roaring lion in the field and kills it by breaking its jaw. Rubens treated the subject several times in his career. The first was a painting of a Tiger Hunt, produced around 1616-1617 for King Maximilian I of Bavaria and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes. The bottom left of this large canvas shows Samson breaking the lion's jaws. Around 1628, Rubens painted a picture of this subject for the King of Spain, then, in 1631, produced a design for a medal struck by Adriaen Waterloos (the composition was also engraved by F. van den Wijngarde). Finally, in 1634, Rubens treated the subject again in a preparatory drawing for a frontispiece to a book by Maffeo Barberini entitled Poemata. The drawing in the Delon Collection, with its prestigious provenance, cannot be linked to any of his projects, nor does its composition correspond to any that were painted or engraved by or after Rubens. In none of them does Samson have his knee resting on the lion's back, as depicted on the present sheet. A drawing by Rubens in Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum (d'Hulst and Vandenven, op. cit., no. 28), generally dated circa 1620, shows the same iconography (although it is the right knee that is resting on the beast's back, not the left as on the Delon sheet), but Samson's body position is very different. Published in 1937 as a Rubens in Borenius and Wittkower's catalog of the Mond collection, this drawing was subsequently rejected as one of the artist's works by d'Hulst and Vandenven in the volume devoted to the Old Testament in the Corpus Rubenianum, published in 1989. These authors consider it to be a copy of a lost original by Rubens. This drawing represents the first of Samson's twelve heroic labours (Judges 14:5), in which he encounters a roaring young lion in the field and kills it by breaking its jaw. Rubens treated the subject several times in his career: firstly in The Tiger Hunt, painted around 1616-1617, for King Maximilian I of Bavaria and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes. In the lower left-hand corner of this large canvas, Samson is seen breaking the lion's jaw. In circa 1628 Rubens painted the same subject for the King of Spain, and in 1631 he designed for a medal made by Adriaen Waterloos (the composition was also engraved by F. van den Wijngarde). Finally, in 1634, Rubens treated the subject again in a preparatory drawing for a frontispiece for a book by Mafeo Barberini entitled Poemata. The present drawing, with its prestigious provenance, depicts Samson with his knee resting on the back of the lion and therefore does not relate to any known works painted or engraved by Rubens. A drawing by Rubens in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (d'Hulst and Vandenven, op. cit., no. 28), generally said to date to c. 1620, shows the same iconography (although it is the right knee that is resting on the back of the beast and not the left as on the Delon sheet) but the position of Samson's body is very different. Published in 1937 as by Rubens in the catalog of the Mond collection by Borenius and Wittkower, this drawing was later rejected as a Rubens drawing by d'Hulst and Vandenven in the Old Testament volume of the Corpus Rubenianum, published in 1989. These authors consider it to be a copy of a lost original by Rubens. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a reduced rate of 5.5% on the hammer price and the prevailing rate o