The Meeting of David and Abigail
Sir Peter Paul Rubens·c. 1630
Historical Context
Rubens painted The Meeting of David and Abigail around 1630, depicting the Old Testament story in which the wise Abigail prevents King David from destroying her husband Nabal's household. The painting's rich palette and dynamic composition demonstrate Rubens's mature mastery of multi-figure biblical narrative. The subject of wise female counsel averting male violence may have resonated with Rubens's diplomatic career, where he sought to prevent war between European powers. Now in the National Gallery of Art, the painting exemplifies Rubens's ability to transform biblical narrative into compelling visual drama.
Technical Analysis
The modello shows Rubens's characteristic dynamic composition with the two groups — David's soldiers and Abigail's retinue — meeting in dramatic confrontation. Rich, warm colors and fluid brushwork on panel create a sense of pageantry and theatrical encounter.
Look Closer
- ◆Abigail kneels before David with baskets of provisions, her diplomatic offering averting the destruction David had planned for her husband Nabal's household
- ◆The packed composition includes servants bearing food, soldiers on horseback, and pack animals — a catalogue of abundance that justifies Abigail's generosity
- ◆David's hand is raised in a gesture that transitions from wrath to acceptance, the pivotal moment of the narrative captured in a single motion
- ◆The warm, golden tonality of Rubens's late period suffuses the scene with a painterly richness
Condition & Conservation
This late Rubens from around 1630 is in the National Gallery of Art collection. The canvas has been relined and the painting has undergone cleaning to remove discolored varnish. The warm color harmonies characteristic of Rubens's last decade are well-preserved.
Provenance
Andrzej Wierzbicki, Warsaw, 1935(?).[1] Princess Eleonore Radziwiłł Tyskiewicz [1918-1997]; consigned May 1957 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); 1/2 share purchased 9 January 1958 by (Pinakos, Inc., New York);[2] full ownership by c. 1963, Dr. and Mrs. Rudolf J. Heinemann, New York;[3] by inheritance 1975 to Lore [Mrs. Rudolf J.] Heinemann [d. 1996], New York; her estate; bequest 1997 to NGA. [1] Records received with the Heinemann bequest (in NGA curatorial files) mention a painting in a 1729 sale (unidentified seller[s], The Hague, 3 May 1729, no. 34) described as "Een nette Schets, zynde de Ontmoeting van David en Abigaël, zeer fray, door denzelven [Rubbens (_sic_)]" (translation: "A handsome sketch, being the Meeting of David and Abigail, very fine, by the same;" see Gerard Hoet, _Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen, met derzelver pryzen, zedert een langen reeks van jaaren zoo in Holland als op andere plaatzen in het openbaar verkogt, benevens een verzameling van listen van verscheyden nog in wezen zynde cabinetten_, 3 vols., The Hague, 1752-1770, reprint ed. Soest, 1976: 3[1770]:5). The existence of several copies of the Gallery's painting makes it impossible to confirm to which painting this entry refers. The Wierzbicki provenance is based on a photograph of the Gallery's painting that Wilhelm Valentiner gave Michael Jaffé, which the latter noted in his 1972 Burlington article was taken in Warsaw and annotated on the back with a name that Jaffé spelled Wieszbicki. Monika Krol at the Royal Castle Museum, Warsaw, has kindly researched the name and suggested this owner was likely Andrzej Wierzbicki (1877-1961), who was born in Warsaw, studied at The Technology Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, then returned to his birthplace in 1913 to begin a career as an industrialist and politician. Nothing is known about his art collecting. The name Wierzbicki also belonged to a printing company in Warsaw, Graphic Works B.Wierzbicki and Co., founded by Bolesław Wierzbicki (1869-1923), a photographer who built a photochemical plant that focused on art printing, lithography, offset section, light-printing, photo-chemigraphy, zincography and bookbinding. It is perhaps possible the name on the back referred back to this company. When Jaffé first saw the actual painting in about 1963, it had been "recently acquired by Dr. Rudolf Heinemann from another collection in the U.S.A." (Jaffé, Michael. "Rubens's 'David and Abigail.'" _The Burlington Magazine_ 114, December 1972: 863.) Roger A. d'Hulst and M. Vandenven, _Rubens: The Old Masters_, Suffolk, 1989: no. 41a, give the date of Wierzbicki ownership as 1935, without documentation. [2] Knoedler Stock Book 10, Page 201, Row 35, Stock No. A6717, digitized at Getty Provenance Index, copy in NGA curatorial file. Heinemann’s firm Pinakos was active during the 1940s and 1950s, frequently buying works in Europe on joint account with Knoedler. Eleonore Tyskiewicz was the daughter of Archduchess Renata of Austria and Prince Hieronim Mikołaj Radziwiłł. Her first husband was Count Benedykt Władysław Tyszkiewicz [1905-1956]. She married Roger de Froidcourt in 1959 and lived the remainder of her life in Paris. [3] This date comes from Jaffé 1972 (see footnote 1).
