copperplate / ribbed paper with countermark PVL [Pieter van der Ley, active since c. 1665], 69.6 x 52.3 cm , plate 61.3 x 45.4 cm, very good state of preservation; signed under the composition, l.d.: Petrus Paul. Rubens pinxit. / Paulus Pontius sculpsit ; in the middle, Latin inscriptions from the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke: IESVS BAIVLANS CRVCEM EXIVIT IN EVM QVI DICITVR CALVARIÆ LOCVM. Ioan. cap. XIX / Apprehenderunt SIMONEM quendam Cyrenensen, et imposuerunt illi Crucem portar post IESVM./ Ducebantur et alij duo nequam cum epo, vt interficerentur. Luc.cap.23 ; on the right the publishing privileges: Cum priuilegijs Regis Christianissimi, Serrenissimæ Infantis. / et Ordinum confederatorum An.1632.
LITERATURE:
- Hollstein's Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700, vol. XVII, Amsterdam 1976, p.149, item.8/II; Elżbieta Budzińska, Rubens' School of Graphics, Catalogue of Engravings from the Collection of the Cabinet of Engravings of the Warsaw University, Warsaw University Publishers, Warsaw 1975, pp.42-43, cat.77; Works of Rubens in 17th century Dutch graphics from the Graphic Collections of the Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow, Łódź 1976, p.54, cat.107, il.17; https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_R-3-73 (accessed 28.02.2025).
The composition, which is reversed in sides, was created according to Rubens' sketch en grisaille. Later, other painted versions of this subject were created, such as the picture painted in 1634-37 for the Abbey Church in Afflighem, now held in the collection of the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. The author of this engraving was Paul Pontius, a pupil of Lucas Vorsterman I . In Antwerp, he collaborated with Rubens and van Dyck. In 1624, he replaced his teacher in Rubens' studio, where he continued to do his work until 1631.
