Full Record |
| Title |
A Franciscan Monk Distributing Food to Peasants |
| Collection |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
| Artist |
Attributed to Laer, Pieter van (Dutch painter and printmaker, 1599-ca.1642)
Attributed to Miel, Jan (Flemish painter and engraver, 1599-1664, active in Italy) |
| Date Earliest |
about 1599 |
| Date Latest |
about 1642 |
| Description |
This small painting belongs to a type known as bambocciate, literally 'little doll', named after a group of artists led by Pieter van Laer who was nicknamed Il Bamboccio because of his hunchback. Van Laer was one of a group of Netherlandish artists working in Rome and producing scenes of everyday life. In this example, a Franciscan saint hands out bowls of soup to the poor. This work could have formed one of a series of Seven Acts of Mercy, burying the dead, tending the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the prisoner. |
| Current Accession Number |
1999Q16 |
| Subject |
everyday life (peasants); religion (Franciscan saint distributing food) |
| Measurements |
32.7 x 27 cm.0 cm (estimate) |
| Material |
oil on panel (hardwood {poplar}) |
| Acquisition Details |
Lent by Sir Denis Mahon, CBE, FBA 1999. |
| Provenance |
Christie's sale, 1910, bought by 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde [?]; bequeathed by 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde to the Earl of Harewood; Christie's sale, London, 29 June 1951, lot 65, bought by Denis Mahon. |
| Principal Exhibitions |
Discovering the Italian Baroque: The Denis Mahon Collection, National Gallery, London, 1997, cat. no. 50. |
| Publications |
Finaldi, G., and Kitson, M., Discovering the Italian Baroque, The Denis Mahon Collection, National Gallery, London, 1997, no. 50. |
| Notes |
The painting is to be bequeathed to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on Sir Denis Mahon's death. |
| Rights Owner |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
| Author |
Dr Patricia Smyth |
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