Signed and dated Carl Ruthart, 1686.
Provenance:
• Amsler and Ruthart Collection up until 1872;
• R. Zschille Collection during the 1870s;
• Cichlar Collection, Vienna;
• Sale at Hüneburg...
read moreSigned and dated Carl Ruthart, 1686.
Provenance:
• Amsler and Ruthart Collection up until 1872;
• R. Zschille Collection during the 1870s;
• Cichlar Collection, Vienna;
• Sale at Hüneburg Braunschweig, 1953.
Sold to the Speed Art Museum de Louisville, Kentucky
Not only is the painting’s format astonishing, but also the precision and delicacy of its execution.
A talented animal painter, Carl Borromäus Andreas Ruthart clearly demonstrates here the ease with which he is able to depict numerous animal species in a biblical context. In this extraordinary illustration of Adam naming the animals, we perceive his astonishing understanding of animal anatomy and his obvious skill at depicting it. Each muscle and hair is rendered with brilliance and precision. Far from being a simple succession of animals that would reduce the work to nothing more than a stylistic composition, the artist “quite naturally” integrates them into a rocky landscape.
As in his most beautiful paintings, Ruthart once again reveals his taste for soft, fresh colours which he subtly associates with lighting effects composed of shadows and highlights to give the canvas a very particular personality.
The theme of this painting illustrates a well-known passage from Genesis : “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.”
Genesis 2:19-21
The subtlety of the colours, the refinement of the pictorial execution, and the boldness and accuracy of the details of this work of an exceptional format, make this major work by Carl Borromäus Andreas Ruthart a delight for the viewer.
The majority of his major works are currently exhibited in the world's greatest museums: in the Louvre (Paris) we can admire a magnificent Bear Hunt. The Getty Museum (Los Angeles) exhibits a passage from the epic story of Ulysses, while the Story of Tobias hangs in The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
Danzig c. 1630 – Aquila after 1703
Born the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Carl Borromäus Andreas Ruthart travelled to Italy very early on. His trace can be found in Rome and Venice between 1652 and 1659. After finishing his apprenticeship, he came to work in Antwerp in order to perfect his knowledge.
A master in the Antwerp guild of painters in 1664, Ruthart took advantage of his renown to accept work across the whole of Europe. This took him to Regensburg, then probably to Graz and Styria. After 1672, he took the decision to return permanently to Italy and take holy orders to become a Celestine monk at the convent of Saint Eusebius in Rome.
After going into the Church, he continued to paint a great number of profane subjects such as extensive hunting scenes or animals fighting. It was only late in life, after retiring to a convent in the Abruzzo region, that Ruthart dedicated himself to celebrating the life of hermits and saints at prayer.
He is indisputably considered to be one of the best animal painters of the 17th century.
