The Crowning of Saint Catherine

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The Crowning of Saint Catherine

Artist Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, 1577-1640

Date1631 or 1633(?)

DimensionsPainting: 104 5/8 × 84 5/8 in. (265.7 × 214.9 cm)
Frame: 120 × 99 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (304.8 × 252.7 × 16.5 cm)

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1950.272

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 36

Collections

Paintings

Published ReferencesTombeur, N. de, Provincia Belgica ordinis F. F. Eremitarum, S. P. N. Augustini, Louvain, n.d. (ca. 1723-1727), p. 118 (Stadsarchief Mechelen MS. 5).

Mensaert, G.P., Le peintre amateur et curieux Brussels, 1763, p. 175.

Descamps, J.B., Voyage pittoresque de la Flandre et du Brabant, Paris, 1769, p. 122.

Mols, J.F., Pieces justicatives pour l'etat des tableaux de Pierre Paul Rubens existant en Europe, 1776, pp. 56-57 (Bibliotheque Royal de Belgique, MS 5736).

Reynolds, J., "A Journey to Flanders and Holland in the Year 1781," The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Knight, (ed. E. Malone), Edinburgh, 1867, pp. 177-178.

Smith, J., A Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, London, 1830, II, p. 47, no. 134.

Smith, J., A Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, London, 1842, Supplement, p. 256, no. 57.

Waagen, G., Treasures of Art in Great Britain, London, 1854, III, p. 399.

Schoeffer, J., Historische Aanteekeningen Mechelen, Malines, 1858, II, p. 509 (Stadsarchief, Mechelen, MS. M 3014/II a).

Rooses, M., L'Oeuvre de P. P. Rubens, Antwerp, 1888-1892, II, pp. 236-238, no. 400, pl. 139 (engraving by P. de Jode), V, p. 432.

Gauchez, L., P. P. Rubens, Paris, n.d. (about 1900), p. 176 (calls it an atelier piece retouched by Rubens).

Lady Victoria Manners, "Notes on Pictures at Belvoir Castle," Connosseur, VI, 1903, p. 71.

Rooses, M., Rubens, Philadelphia, 1904, II, p. 541.

Plietzsch, E., "Die Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst in der Berliner Kgl. Academie der Kunst,: Zeitschrift fur bildende Kunst, XXV, 1914, repr. p. 229.

Oldenberg, R., P. P. Rubens, Stuttgart, 1921, repr. p. 343.

Gluck, G. and F. Haberditzl, Die Handzeichmungen von P. P. Rubens, Berlin, 1926, in no. 206.

Ministry of the Interior, Verzeichnis Der National Wertvollen Kunstwerke, Berlin, 1927, no 159, p. 9.

Evers, H. G., Rubens und sein Werk, Burssels, 1944, p. 79.

Toledo Museum News, no. 130, Nov.-Dec. 1951, repr.

Art Quarterly, XV, no. 3, 1952, pp. 262-263, repr. (note on painting and its acquisition by TMA).

van Puyvelde, L., Rubens, Paris, 1952, pp. 155, 214 (no. 184, 185), detail repr. opp. p. 146.

Godwin, Molly Ohl, Master Works, Toledo, 1953, p. 18, repr. (col.).

Held, Julius, "Rubens in America," Art Digest, vol. 28, May 15, 1954, pp. 13, 34-35, repr. p. 12.

Godwin, Molly Ohl, "Toledo Museum of Art: Post-War Additions," Connoisseur, vol. 136, no. 548, October 1955, pp. 133-140, repr. p. 139.

Gerson, H. and E. H. ter Kuile, Art and Architecture in Belgium, 1600-1800, Harmondsworth, 1960, pp. 104-105.

Spaeth, Eloise, American Art Museum and Galleries, New York, 1960, p. 133 repr.

Jacob, J., "The Liverpool Rubens and other Related Pictures," Liverpool Bulletin, IX, no. 3, 1960-1961, pp. 20-21, fig. 10.

Jacob, John, "A Holy Family and Other Related Pictures by P.P. Rubens," Jaarboek Koninklijk Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, 1960, p. 15-16, repr. fig. 7 (Discusses TMA picture in relation to Holy Family acquired by Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).

Toledo Museum News, New Series: vol. 4, no. 1, Winter 1961, p. 15 (also published as Details, European Paintings).

Burchard L. and R.A. d'Hulst, Rubens Drawings, Brussels, 1963, in nos. 174, 186, 187, 194.

Bruner, Louise, " The Toledo Museum of Art," American Artist, vol. 30, no. 4, April 1966, p. 36 repr.

Jaffe, M., "Rubens," Encyclopedia of World Art, New York, XII, 1966, p. 595 (as entirely by his own hand).

A Guide to the Toeldo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr. (col.).

Wittman, Otto, "The Golden Age in the Netherlands," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, Dec. 1967, p. 467, pl. XIV repr. (col.), p. 471.

Christensen, Erwin O., A Guide to Art Museums in the United States, New York, 1968, pp. 174-175, repr. no. 366.

Ryan, Michael, "This Museum is for People," Wonderful World of Ohio, vol. 33, Feb. 1969, repr. (col.) p. 33.

Spaeth, Eloise, American Art Museums, New York, 1969, Rev. ed., p. 204.

Tomkins, Calvin, Merchants and Masterpieces, the Story of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1970, p. 319.

Greenhill, Eleanor S. Dictionary of Art, New York, 1974, p. 470, repr. pl. 19.

Hoving, Thomas P.F., The Chase, the Capture: Collecting at the Metropolitan, New York, 1975, p. 68 (called Adoration of the Magi).

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 146-147, pl. 102, color pl. VI.

Vleighe, Hans, Saints, London, 1974 (Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, vol. 8, pt. 2), p. 88.

The Toledo Museum of Art: a Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. (col.) p. 54.

Jaffe, Michael, Rubens and Italy, Ithaca, 1977, pp. 42, 110.

Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, New York, 1979, p. 244.

Andrews, Peter, "A View of Toledo" Connoisseur, vol. 212, no. 849, Nov. 1982, p. 109, repr. (col. det.) p. 108.

Simson, Otto von, "Das letzte Altarbild von Peter Paul Rubens," Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins fur Kunstwissenschaft, Bd. 37, Hft. 1/4, 1983, p. 66 and no. 21, repr. fig. 3, p. 65.

Liedtke, Walter A., Flemish paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art I, New York, 1984, p. 183, no. 11.

Horowitz, Frederick A., More than You See: a Guide to Art, New York, 1985, pp. 44-48, repr. (col.) pls. 11, 30.

Soding, Ulrich, Das Grabbild des Peter Paul Rubens in der Jakobs-Kirche zu Antwerpen, Hildesheim, 1986, pp. 99-100, 106-107, 115, 116, 118, 129, 135-136, 153, 243 (no. 266, 269), 247 (no. 290), abb. 41.

White, Christopher, Peter Paul Rubens: Man and Artist, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1987, p. 242.

Kaylon, Melik, "I'd First Save," Connoisseur, vol. 218, no. 912, Jan. 1988, p. 78, repr. (col.).

Koch-Hillebrecht, Manfred, Museen in den USA: Gemalde, Munich, 1992, p. 232.

Flemish Paintings in America, Antwerp, 1992, pp. 208, 210, repr. p. 209 (col.).

Wilkin, Karen, "Rubens and His Age," New Criterion, vol. 12, no. 8, Apr. 1994, p. 40.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, p. 54, (col.).

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 90, repr. (col.).

Scribner, Charles III, Peter Paul Rubens, New York, 1989, p. 126.

Luijten, Ger and A.W.F.M. Meij, From Pisanello to Cezanne, Master Drawings from the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1990, p. 133.

Mathey, Jacques, "Greuze et Fragonard copistes de Rubens," Bulletin de la Societe de L'Histoire de L'Art Francais, annee 1993, p. 185-186.

King, Laura, "The Cover," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 278, no. 3, July 1997, p. 178, repr. on cover (col.).

Vlieghe, Hans, Flemish Art and Architecture, 1585-1700, New Haven, 1998, p. 55, fig. 62, (col.), p. 57.

Gosztola, Annamaria, "Under the Spell of Great Masters: Remarks on Pictures by the Bescheys in Hungary," in Ex fumo Lucem: Baroque Studies in Honour of Klara Garas, [Budapest, n.d.], pp. 78-80, fig. 14, p. 77.

McMaster, Julie A., The Enduring Legacy: A Pictorial History of the Toledo Museum of Art, Superior Printing, Warren, OH, 2001, repr. (col.) p. 33.

Duncan, Sally Anne, Otto Wittmann: Museum Man for All Seasons, Toledo, 2001, pp. 10-11, 14, repr. (col.) p. 11.

Kaufmann, Thomas Da Costa, L'art flammand et hollandais: Belgique et Pays-Bas 1520-1914, Paris, Editions Cetadelles & Mazenod, 2002, p. 158, fig. 138 (col.) p. [154].

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2005, pp. 20-21, repr. (col.) and (det.)

Fahy, Everett, ed., The Wrightsman Picture, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, p. 120, fig. 3 and fig. 4 (det.).

Buser, Thomas, Experiencing Art Around Us, 2nd ed., Belmont, CA, Thomson Wadsworth, 2006, p. 397, fig. 16-30 (col.).

Yeide, Nancy H., Beyond the Dreams of Avarice: the Hermann Goering Collection, Dallas, Laurel Publishing, 2009, A1236, p. 387, repr. p. 175.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 162-63, repr. (col.) and (det.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, pp. 20-21, repr. (col.) and (det.).

Duncan, Sally Anne and Andrew McClellan, The Art of Curating: Paul J. Sachs and the Museum Course at Harvard, Los Angeles, The Getty Research Institute, 2018, pp. 182-183, 194 n. 132, pp. 182, fig. 102, 183, fig. 103.

Exhibition HistoryBerlin, Akademie der Kunst, Austellung von Werken alter Kunst, 1914, no. 139.

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, The Age of Rubens, 1993-1994, no. 32, pp. 43, 307-312, repr. (col.), p. 308, (det.) fig. 1 & 2, p. 310.

Madrid, Prado, Velazquez, Rubens y Van Dyck: pintores cortesanos del siglo XVII, 1999-2000, no. 44, pp. 243-244, repr. (col).

Comparative ReferencesSee also Cabanne, Pierre, Fragonard, Paris, 1987, p. 36.

Label TextRubens painted this magnificent painting as an altarpiece for the Church of the Augustinians in Mechelen (Malines), modern Belgium. The three saints surrounding the enthroned Madonna were, according to tradition, all tortured and killed in the early centuries of Christianity for refusing to renounce their faith. Apollonia on the left holds the pincers used to pull her teeth. Margaret holds the leash of the dragon that swallowed her. Catherine kneels, contemplating the palm tree branch, emblem of martyrs. The Christ Child places a victory crown of laurel leaves on her head, while above her a cherub clutches the lightning bolts that destroyed the spiked wheels used to torture her. One of the most sought-after artists of the 17th century, Rubens was hailed as the “god of painters.” Based primarily in Antwerp, he worked for most of the courts in Europe, even undertaking important diplomatic missions for the Spanish king. At the time of his death in 1640, he and his workshop had produced some 2,000 paintings.