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Masterpieces from the World’s Museums in the
Hermitage. Rembrandt, Pallas Athena, from the Collection of the Galouste
Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon) The exhibition features Rembrandt’s painting of the Pallas Athena from the collection of the Galouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. One of Rembrandt’s (1606-1669) celebrated works has now returned for a while to the Hermitage on the eve of an important anniversary marking 400 years from the great 17th century Dutch artist’s birth in 1606. The Pallas Athena has for many years belonged to the Galouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. However, it has unseen ties from the past binding it to the Hermitage. From the end of the 18th century right up to the 1930’s this work by Rembrandt decorated the Hermitage gallery. Athena (canvas, oil, 118 õ 91 cm) arrived in St Petersburg as part of a large collection which was purchased in France in 1781 for Empress Catherine the Great. The owner of this canvas, Count Sylvestre-Raphael Baudouin (1715-1797), was a well known engraver, as well as an admirer and great connoisseur of old paintings. In 1930 the painting’s fate took a sharp change in direction, as happened to many other works of art at the time. In May 1930, following a decision of the Soviet Government, Rembrandt’s Pallas Athena was sold to the oil magnate and well-known collector Galouste Gulbenkian (1869 - 1955). As a result of secret agreements concluded in Paris between the entrepreneur and representatives of Gostorg RSFSR, the Hermitage was compelled to turn over a number of precious jewels and works of art to the office of the agency Antikvariat. The Athena was in an especially valuable shipment of art objects which included masterpiece paintings by Rembrandt, Gerard Terborch, Watteau, and Nicolas Lancret, as well as Houdon’s celebrated statue Diana the Huntress. Galouste Gulbenkian paid the Soviet Government a total of 140,000 pounds sterling for these museum exhibits. Like almost all the late works of the Dutch painter, the subject of this canvas has been subjected to various interpretations. A young warrior is presented by the artist turned three-quarters to the viewer. He stands against a gloomy dark background. Light from the left falls on his metal armor, causing it to glitter in the dark. His face is in semi-shadow. There can be no doubt that this is a hero from Classical Antiquity, but who exactly is he? Attributes carry a huge figurative and semantic content in this composition. The fanciful details of the costume involuntarily intrigue the viewer. A luxurious helmet adorns the head of the knight. Its high crest is topped with the figure of an owl and luxuriant plumage of crimson feathers. These motifs are a free fantasy on the theme of showy Late Renaissance arms. Rembrandt was a great connoisseur and collector of old arms and he obviously took pleasure in conveying the sheen of gilded metal. The lock of curly hair which has come loose from under the helmet falls onto the folds of a wine-red cloak that has been tossed over the cuirass. In their freely and summarily drawn forms one can barely make out lion mascarones. With one small gloved hand the warrior grips a spear, while in the other he holds a huge rounded shield decorated on its outer surface with the head of the Gorgone Meduse. The red outline of the shield (allowing us to suppose that the inside is lined with crimson velvet) forms an energetic ellipse. This form creates distance between the viewer and the figure of the hero and it has considerable significance. The massive shield balances out the warrior’s spear, depicted as aimed to the left, and his head, which is slightly bent under the weight of the helmet. The handsome hero of the painting is lost in thought. His fragile and feminine face is indistinct and not specific. In the earliest manuscript catalogue of the Hermitage (1773 -1785), Rembrandt’s canvas was mentioned as the Pallas Athena. However, not everyone agreed with this name. In the Baudouin Collection inventory (1780), the composition was entered as a “Portrait of Alexander in the Armor of Pallas.” The special protection of Athena was ascribed to Alexander the Great. In later literature the painting has been variously called “Mars,” “Portrait of Titus,” and “Young Warrior.” The curator of the exhibition if I.A. Sokolova, a leading researcher in the Department of Western European Art of the State Hermitage. |
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Copyright
© 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
