%2C_Deborah_Kip%2C_Wife_of_Sir_Balthasar_Gerbier%2C_and_Her_Children%2C_1629-1630%2C_reworked_probably_mid_1640s%2C_NGA_52457.jpg&width=1200)
Deborah Kip, Wife of Sir Balthasar Gerbier, and Her Children
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (and possibly Jacob Jordaens)·1629/1630, reworked probably mid 1640s
Historical Context
Rubens painted Deborah Kip and her children around 1629-30, possibly with the collaboration of Jacob Jordaens, depicting the wife of the British diplomat Sir Balthasar Gerbier with their offspring. Gerbier served as the English agent in Brussels and facilitated diplomatic contacts between England and Spain in which Rubens was deeply involved. The dual attribution reflects the collaborative workshop practices common in Antwerp painting. Now in the National Gallery of Art, the painting documents the intersection of art and diplomacy in which Rubens uniquely operated.
Technical Analysis
The group portrait balances formal composition with the natural interaction of mother and children. Evidence of reworking is visible in the paint layers, with the original Rubensian handling supplemented by later additions that slightly alter the tonal relationships.
Look Closer
- ◆The children are arranged in a natural, informal grouping that captures their individual personalities — one leans against the mother while another looks away distractedly
- ◆Deborah Kip's lace collar and cuffs are painted with meticulous care, contrasting with the more loosely handled children's clothing
- ◆The painting was reworked in the mid-1640s, possibly by Jacob Jordaens, and technical examination has revealed changes to the children's arrangement
- ◆The warm, golden light bathes the group in domestic intimacy, transforming a formal family portrait into a scene of maternal affection
Condition & Conservation
This painting has a complex physical history. Initially painted by Rubens in 1629-30, it was reworked in the mid-1640s, probably by Jordaens, who added or modified some of the children. Technical analysis at the National Gallery has distinguished the different painting campaigns. The canvas has been relined and conserved.
Provenance
Possibly Hélène Fourment [1614-1673], widow of the artist, Antwerp, by 1646; possibly John Robartes, 1st earl of Radnor [1606-1685], Lord Privy Seal to Charles II, London; possibly by inheritance to his son, Charles Bodville Robartes, 2nd earl of Radnor [1660-1723], London; (his sale, at his residence, London, 22-29 April 1724, no. 86, as by Van Dyck);[1] Thomas Scawen, London;[2] (his sale, at his residence, London, 25-28 January 1743, no. 49, bought in, possibly by Mr. Borroughs, a relative of Thomas Scawen);[3] "A Gent of the Law"; Sampson Gideon, Esq. [1699-1762], Belvedere, Erith, Kent, before 1755;[4] by inheritance to his son, Sir Sampson Gideon [assumed surname Eardley in 1789], 1st and last baron Spalding [1745-1824], Belvedere; by inheritance to his daughter, Charlotte-Elizabeth, and her husband, Sir Culling Smith, 2nd bt. [1768-1829], Belvedere; by inheritance to their son, Sir Culling Eardley Smith, 3rd bt. [later Sir Culling Eardley Eardley, 1805-1863], Belvedere, and Bedwell Park, near Hatfield, Hertfordshire; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 30 June 1860, no. 21, bought in);[5] by inheritance to his daughters, Frances Selena Eardley [Mrs. Culling Hanbury], Bedwell Park, and Isabella Maria Eardley [Mrs. William Henry Freemantle, d. 1901]; by inheritance, by 1927, to Colonel Francis E. Fremantle and Edward V.E. Fremantle, Esq.; purchased 5 August 1971 through (Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London) by NGA. [1] George Vertue witnessed the sale and recorded it in his correspondence. See Clovis Whitfield, "Balthasar Gerbier, Rubens, and George Vertue," _Studies in the History of Art_ (1973): 25. Whitfield also notes that the painting may have been in the collection of the 11th earl of Radnor who, according to Samuel Pepys (diary reference 30 September 1661), had "two very fine pictures in the gallery" of his residence, Danvers House, in Chelsea, London. [2] George Vertue notes that Scawen bought the painting at the Radnor sale. See Whitfield 1973, 27. [3] The painting was possibly bought in at the Scawen sale and then bought afterwards by a Mr. Burroughs. See Whitfield 1973, 25, and Michael Jaffé, "Rubens's _Madame Gerbier and Her Children_," in _A Dealer's Record: Agnew's 1967-1981_, London, 1981: 75. [4] Recorded in the possession of Gideon by James McArdell, who made a mezzotint copy of the work in 1755. He reports seeing it at Belvedere, Gideon's house in Kent. See Whitfield 1973, and Jaffé 1981, 75, who misdates the mezzotint as 1735. Thomas B.M. Martyn, _The English connoisseur: containing an account of whatever is curious in painting, sculpture, & c., in the palaces and the seats of the nobility and principal gentry of England, both in town and country_, 2 vols., London, 1766: 1:13, lists the painting among those at Belvedere House as "A Dutch Woman and her three Children" by "Sir Ant. More." [5] The painting was apparently bought in by a Mr. Ward, whom Jaffé feels was an assumed name. Despite the high price the painting realized at the sale the work remained with the family by inheritance until its purchase by the NGA. See Jaffé 1981, 75. Whitfield 1973, 26, mentions, but does not elaborate on the identity of Mr. Ward.
