Catalogue entry
Pierre Patel c.1605–1676
NG 6513
Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt
, 2001
Extracted from:
Humphrey Wine, The Seventeenth Century French Paintings (London: National Gallery Company and Yale University Press, 2001).
© The National Gallery, London
Oil on canvas, 97.7 × 138.0 cm
Signed and dated at bottom: .P.PATEL.INVE.PIN/.1652.
Provenance
Possibly in the sale of James, 2nd Earl Waldegrave (1715–63), friend and adviser to George II and relation by marriage to Horace Walpole,1 London, Prestage, 16 November 1763 (lot 34, £52 10s. to ‘Mr Brown (he was mad, put up again)’) where described as ‘Virgin and Child and St Joseph… 55 × 38’;2 possibly in the sale of Richard, 1st Earl Grosvenor (1731–1802), Grosvenor Square, London, Christie’s, 13 October 1802 (lot 56, £21 10s. 6d., purchaser unknown), where described as ‘A beautiful Landscape and Ruins, with a Reposo, capital’;3 possibly in the sale of William Court of Bristol, Christie’s, 22 February 1812 (lot 93, £60 18s. to Morland), where described as ‘An elegant Italian Landscape with the Reposo – a truly elegant and richly coloured chef d’oeuvre’; anon. sale, Bologna, Christie’s, 27/28 September 1986 (lot 333, 35 million lire plus premium to Didier Aaron Inc.); bought, 1988.
Exhibition
New York 1987, Didier Aaron Inc., A Timeless Heritage. Masterworks of Painting for Today’s Collector (6).
Related Works
Drawing
A black chalk and watercolour drawing of a landscape without figures in the collection of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux‐Arts, Paris (inv. no. 1396) (fig. 1), is closely related compositionally to NG 6513 but may be by Patel’s son Pierre‐Antoine Patel.4 In any event, given the frequency with which Patel used compositions of this type, the drawing cannot be said unequivocally to be preparatory to NG 6513.5
Technical Notes
The painting is in generally good condition with no significant loss or damage. There are, however, paint losses in the foliage and trunk of the tree at the left, and some wear in the sky. NG 6513 was painted on a quite fine plain‐weave canvas, which had been relined and loose lined shortly before its acquisition by the Gallery. The ground is a warm red colour. The figures and the donkey have been painted on top of the background. However, there are no textural or other differences in the paint between figures, buildings and landscape to suggest the work of more than one hand. This conclusion is supported by EDX analysis of a sample of orange‐brown paint from Joseph’s cloak at the shoulder which was compared to a [page 273][page 274] similar colour taken from foliage on the low branch of the large tree at left – the constitution of the paint in the two areas appears identical. The outline of the Virgin’s left shoulder shows a pentimento, and the oval shape between the white cloud and the tree at the left may be a painted‐out cloud. There are later retouchings in the outline of the Virgin to the left of the Child’s knee and in the lower right outline of Joseph’s robe. The brightest blue colour of the sky consists of finely ground, high‐quality lapis lazuli ultramarine painted over an underlayer consisting of smalt and white. The most intense greens in the foliage owe their colour to a high proportion of mineral azurite in the paint, while the duller greens also contain yellow lake, white and iron oxide colours.
Attributed to Pierre‐Antoine Patel (1648–1707), Landscape. Black chalk, watercolour and white heightening, 25.6 × 40.9 cm. Paris, Ecole Nationale
Supérieure des Beaux‐Arts.
© Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux‐Arts, Paris
© Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / image Beaux-arts de Paris
Discussion
The story of the Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt is related in the Gospel of Saint Matthew (2:13–15), but the subject of the Rest is taken from apocryphal gospel of the Pseudo Matthew (Evangelium 21–2), the Latin version of which dates back to the eighth or ninth century.6 Patel’s depiction, like that of many other painters, ignores much of the detail of the Pseudo Matthew legend in favour of pictorial effect. For example, whereas the Pseudo Matthew recounts that the Holy Family found shelter from the sun in the shade of a palm tree, the Virgin and Child are only in partial shade, and that from an oak. It is also curious that a niche in the architecture contains a complete marble figure of a goddess; this is inconsistent with the spirit of the Pseudo Matthew, which describes the Holy Family entering a temple at Sotina and all the idols falling from the altar. The fact that the heathen temple in NG 6513 is in ruins is, however, appropriate, although without source in the Pseudo Matthew. The bas‐reliefs on the ruins are probably imagined,7 as are the ruins themselves. If the ruins have a source, or rather an inspiration, it is in such paintings by Claude as Seaport with Ulysses restituting Chryseis to Chryses (Paris, Louvre) and Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (NG 14), both of which had probably arrived in Paris in the years preceding execution of NG 6513. NG 14, for example, gives prominence to fluted columns and pilasters in a way adopted in NG 6513 and in others paintings by Patel.8
The basic composition of classically inspired ruins on one side and a framing tree on the other before an extensive landscape may be seen in other works by Patel, notably Landscape with the Journey to Emmaus, also signed and dated 1652 (Norfolk, Virginia, The Chrysler Museum),9 and Landscape with Ruins and Shepherds (Paris, Louvre).10 Paintings by Patel of the same subject as NG 6513 but smaller are at Tours, Ottawa and the Louvre.11 The first is dated 1658, the second, on copper, 1662, and the third, also on copper, 1673.
General Reference
The National Gallery Report, 1985–7, London 1988, pp. 35–6.
[page 275]Notes
1. See DNB , vol. 20, pp. 475–7. (Back to text.)
2. See the copy of this catalogue in the British Library. The measurements suggest an upright format, but there is nothing in the description of the painting in the Phillips MS 10254 to support this (‘Patel. Our Saviour, &c in a Landscape, with Buildings – Buildings fine, otherwise a dark gloomy Picture’). Even if the measurements corresponded better, the subject is too common to propose this provenance with great confidence, and similar caution is appropriate in respect of the subsequent provenance of NG 6513 until 1986. (Back to text.)
3. A ‘Landscape with a Reposo. A pleasing and genuine Specimen of the French Claude’ was also offered at Liverpool, Winstanley, 13 April 1810, lot 107: The Index of Paintings Sold, vol. 2, part 2, p. 722. (Back to text.)
4. Letter of 20 February 1987 from Natalie Coural. (Back to text.)
5. See De Michel‐Ange à Géricault. Dessins de la Donation Armand‐Valton, Paris 1981–2, ENSB‐A, Paris, Malibu, Ca., The J. Paul Getty Museum, and Hamburg, Kunsthalle, no. 148 (where illustrated in colour). (Back to text.)
6. For this and the following comments in the Text on the Evangelium, see Gertrud Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, 2 vols (1st English edition trans. J. Seligman), London 1971, vol. 1, pp. 117ff. (Back to text.)
7. As advised by Jennifer Montagu: see The National Gallery Report 1985–7, London 1988, p. 36, n. 1. (Back to text.)
8. For an appreciation of Patel as a painter of architecture, see J.B. Deperthes, Histoire de l’Art du Paysage depuis la Renaissance des Beaux Arts jusqu’au dix‐huitième siècle, Paris 1822, pp. 293–4. (Back to text.)
9. See Jefferson C. Harrison, French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum, 1986–7, North Carolina Museum of Art and Birmingham [Alabama] Museum of Art, no. 3. (Back to text.)
10. See Natalie Coural, ‘Le Paysage avec ruines et pasteurs de Pierre Patel (1605–1676)’, Revue du Louvre, (4) 1990, pp. 307–9, who rightly notes (p. 308) the affinity between NG 6513 and the Louvre painting in respect of the composition, direction of light, and grouping of the figures in the foreground shade. (Back to text.)
11. Tours, Musée des Beaux‐Arts (R.F. 1985‐70), 40 × 57 cm; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada (no. 17608), 26 × 35.2 cm; Louvre (R.F. 3981), 41 × 50 cm. Another version of the subject by Patel painted in 1657 on canvas was last recorded in the Lepke sale, Berlin, 12–18 October 1908, lot 81: ed. M.Laskin and M. Pantazzi, Catalogue of the National Gallery of Canada Ottawa. European and American Painting, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts, vol. 1/1300–1800/Text, Ottawa 1987, p. 217. Laskin and Pantazzi ( ibid. ) also note a black‐chalk drawing by Patel of the subject, in the form of a tondo, in the museum at Besançon (exh. Paris 1958, Petit Palais, Le XVIIe Siècle Français, no. 225, and London 1958, RA , The Age of Louis XIV , no. 260). Finally, an undated painting on canvas of the same subject was sold at Sotheby’s, Monaco, 19 June 1994, lot 459 (there described as by Pierre Patel). (Back to text.)
Abbreviations
List of references cited
- Complete Peerage 1910–59
- Doubleday, H.A., Lord Howard de Walden, G.H. White and R.S. Lea, eds, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, 12 or 13 vols, 2nd edn, London 1910–59
- Coural 1990
- Coural, Natalie, ‘Le Paysage avec ruines et pasteurs de Pierre Patel (1605–1676)’, Revue du Louvre, 1990, 4, 307–9
- Davies 1946
- Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The French School, London 1946 (revised 2nd edn, London 1957)
- Davies 1957
- Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The French School, 2nd edn, revised, London 1957
- De Michel‐Ange à Géricault 1981–2
- De Michel‐Ange à Géricault. Dessins de la Donation Armand‐Valton, Paris 1981–2
- Deperthes 1822
- Deperthes, J.B., Histoire de l’Art du Paysage depuis la Renaissance des Beaux‐Arts jusqu’au dix‐huitième siècle, Paris 1822
- Dictionary of National Biography
- Dictionary of National Biography, London 1885– (Oxford 1917–)
- Fredericksen 1988–96
- Fredericksen, Burton, ed., assisted by Julia I. Armstrong and Doris A. Mendenhall, The Index of Paintings Sold in the British Isles during the Nineteenth Century (I (1801–5), Santa Barbara 1988; II (1806–10), 2 vols, Santa Barbara 1990; III (1811–15), 2 vols, Munich, London, New York and Paris 1993; IV (1816–20), 2 vols, Santa Monica 1996 (revised versions of these volumes can be consulted online)), 4 vols (10 parts), Oxford, Santa Barbara, Munich, London, New York, Paris and Santa Monica 1988–96
- Harrison 1986–7
- Harrison, Jefferson C., French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum, 1986–7, North Carolina Museum of Art and Birmingham [Alabama] Museum of Art, [1996]
- Laskin and Pantazzi 1987
- Laskin, M. and M. Pantazzi, eds, Catalogue of the National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, European and American Painting, Sculpture and Decorative Arts, vol. 1, 1300–1800, Ottawa 1987
- National Gallery Report 1985–7
- The National Gallery Report, 1985–7, London 1988
- Schiller 1971–2
- Schiller, G., Iconography of Christian Art, 2 vols, London 1971–2
List of exhibitions cited
- London 1958, Royal Academy
- London, Royal Academy, The Age of Louis XIV, 1958
- New York 1987
- New York, Didier Aaron, Inc., A Timeless Heritage. Masterworks of Painting for Today’s Collector, 1987
- Paris 1958
- Paris, Galerie Heim, Tableaux de Maîtres Anciens, 1958
The Organisation of the Catalogue
This is a catalogue of the seventeenth‐century French paintings in the National Gallery. It includes one painting by a Flemish artist (NG 2291 by Jakob Ferdinand Voet) and two which may or may not be French (NG 83 and NG 5448). An explanation of how the terms ‘French’ and ‘seventeenth‐century’ are here used, are given in the Preface.
The artists are catalogued in alphabetical order. Under each artist, autograph works come first, followed by works in which I believe the studio played a part, then those which are entirely studio productions or later copies. Where there is more than one work by an artist, they are arranged in order of acquisition – that is, in accordance with their inventory numbers.
Each entry is arranged as follows:
TITLE: I have adopted the traditional title of each painting, except where it might be misleading to do so.
DATE: Where a work is inscribed with its date, the date is recorded immediately after the note of media and measurements, together with any other inscriptions. Otherwise, the date is given immediately below the title; an explanation for the choice of date is provided in the body of the catalogue entry.
MEDIA AND MEASUREMENTS: All the paintings have been physically examined and measured by Paul Ackroyd (or in the case of NG 165 by Larry Keith) and myself. Height precedes width. Measurements are of the painted surface (ignoring insignificant variations). Additional information on media and measurements, where appropriate, is provided in the Technical Notes.
SIGNATURE AND DATE: The information derives from the observations of Paul Ackroyd, Larry Keith and myself during the course of examining the paintings. The use of square brackets indicates letters or numerals that are not visible but may reasonably be assumed once to have been so.
Provenance: I have provided the birth and death dates, places of residence and occupations of earlier owners where these are readily available, for example in The Dictionary of National Biography, La Dictionnaire de biographie française, The Complete Peerage and Who was Who. Since I have generally not acknowledged my debt to these publications in individual notes, I am pleased to do so here. In some cases basic information about former owners is amplified in the notes.
Exhibitions: Although they are not strictly exhibitions, long‐term loans to other collections have been included under this heading (but do not appear in the List of Exhibitions forming part of the bibliographical references at the back of the catalogue). Exhibitions are listed in date order. A number in parentheses following reference to an exhibition is that assigned to the painting in the catalogue of the exhibition.
Related Works: Dimensions have been given for paintings, where known, and these works may be assumed to be oil on canvas unless otherwise indicated. I have not given dimensions or media for drawings and prints, except for those that are illustrated, where these details are given in the caption.
Technical Notes: These derive from examination of the paintings by, and my discussions with, Martin Wyld, Head of Conservation, and Paul Ackroyd and Larry Keith of the Conservation Department; from investigation of the paintings by Ashok Roy, Head of the Scientific Department, and his colleagues Raymond White and Marika Spring; and from the publications and articles (mainly in various issues of the National Gallery Technical Bulletin) referred to in the relevant notes.
In the discussion of each painting I have tried to take account of information and opinions that were in the public domain before the end of 2000. Exceptionally, because I knew in advance that Poussin’s Annunciation (NG 5472) would be lent to an exhibition held at the Louvre, Paris, early in 2001, I have mentioned, albeit in a note and without discussion, Marc Fumaroli’s suggestion in the exhibition catalogue concerning the picture’s original function. Except where otherwise indicated, translations are my own and biblical quotations are from the Authorised Version (King James Bible).
General References: In the case of pictures acquired by 1957, I have included a reference to Martin Davies’s French School catalogue of that year; I have referred to his 1946 catalogue only when there was some material development in his views between the two dates. In the case of subsequently acquired paintings, I have referred to the interim catalogue entry published in the relevant National Gallery Report. In addition, General References include relevant catalogues of pictures (not necessarily catalogues raisonnés), but not other material.
List of Publications Cited: This includes only publications referred to more than once.
List of Exhibitions: This is a list both of exhibitions in which the paintings here catalogued have appeared and of exhibition catalogues cited in the notes. The list is in date order.
About this version
Version 1, generated from files HW_2001__16.xml dated 07/03/2025 and database__16.xml dated 09/03/2025 using stylesheet 16_teiToHtml_externalDb.xsl dated 03/01/2025. Structural mark-up applied to skeleton document in full; document updated to use external database of archival and bibliographic references; entries for NG30, NG61, NG62, NG1449, NG2967, NG4919, NG5597, NG5763, NG6331, NG6471, NG6477 and NG6513 prepared for publication.
Cite this entry
- Permalink (this version)
- https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EB4-000B-0000-0000
- Permalink (latest version)
- https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E79-000B-0000-0000
- Chicago style
- Wine, Humphrey. “NG 6513, Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt”. 2001, online version 1, March 9, 2025. https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EB4-000B-0000-0000.
- Harvard style
- Wine, Humphrey (2001) NG 6513, Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Online version 1, London: National Gallery, 2025. Available at: https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EB4-000B-0000-0000 (Accessed: 20 March 2025).
- MHRA style
- Wine, Humphrey, NG 6513, Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (National Gallery, 2001; online version 1, 2025) <https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EB4-000B-0000-0000> [accessed: 20 March 2025]