The work was identified by Dr. Paul Huvenne and Dr. Nico Van Hout of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. The Antwerp museum is well known for its collection of Baroque Masters, inter alia, and occupies an important place in the scientific research on the Antwerp Master.
Rubens experts knew nothing of the work. The standard work on the oil sketches of Rubens by Julius Held from 1980 does not mention the sketch.
The oil sketch is on a panel of 27 x 29 cm and dates from prior to 1615. According to Van Hout and Huvenne, it is a sketch by his own hand. It is probably an initial idea that Rubens developed for a painting in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The small panel in Oslo presents two men with a small star on their head, by which one can assume that it depicts the tableau of Castor and Pollux seizing the daughters of Leucippus. This is relevant because the work in Munich is taken as to be dealing with the Theft of the Sabine maidens.
Your browser does not meet the minimum requirements to view this website. The browsers below are compatible. If you do not have one of these browsers, click on the icon to download the preferred browser.
