(1597-1655) The Holy Virgin crowned by the Christ Child, surrounded by saints, study for a painting in the church Saint Charles Borromeo in Antwerp, pen and brown ink over traces of black chalk, brown wash, on laid paper, framing lines in pen and brown ink, 45,5 x 34 cm, browned, stained, damaged, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany.

The attribution of the present sheet to Cornelis Schut was suggested by Prof. Jeremy Wood on the basis of a digital photograph. The drawing could be a preliminary study for the painting "The Holy Virgin crowned by the Christ Child surrounded by saints" in the Sint-Carolus-Borromaeuskerk in Antwerp (See: Gertrude Wilmers, Cornelis Schut (1597-1655): A Flemish Painter of the High Baroque, Turnhout, 1996, pp. 101-103, no A 39.). Another drawing which could be a preliminary drawing for the etching by Schut after the same composition is presumably also related to the painting and is preserved in the Rijksmuseum (Inv. RP-T-1980-20). Compared to the altar painting the present drawing shows several differences in composition and in the figures, which may point to its function as a preliminary study for the painting. Moreover, the technique and the style of the drawing are typical for the drawing oeuvre of Schut and point to the date of the painting’s execution.

We are grateful to Prof. Jeremy Wood for the scientific support by cataloguing the present drawing.