RKD STUDIES

Van Baburen is believed to have left Utrecht soon after 1611, as his name disappeared from guild documents in 1612.¹ The first documentation of his presence in Italy is found in Parma. Leonard Slatkes cited old records that refer to a Martyrdom of St Sebastian in Santa Maria dei Servi there, with Van Baburen’s signature and a date of 1615 on the back of the painting.² So he must have set foot on the Italian peninsula sometime between 1611/2 and 1615.

Van Baburen’s most impressive work in Rome is an altarpiece of the Entombment [1], for the Pietà chapel in San Pietro in Montorio, the important Spanish Church in Rome, which according to legend was built on the site of St Peter’s martyrdom.³ The Pietà chapel is located as the fourth chapel on the left, and although there is no documentary support, it is presumed that its construction was assigned to Carlo Maderno (1556-1629) between 1615 and 1620.⁴ In addition to the altarpiece Van Baburen executed four paintings on the side wall of the chapel and in the lunettes [2-4], the latter two presumably together with David de Haen (1585-1622): The Carrying of the Cross on the right wall, the Mocking of Christ in the lunette above, the Elevation of the Cross on the left side wall, which was replaced and lost in the course of the time and is now only known from a drawn copy [5], and Christ on the Mount of Olives in the lunette.

The extent of De Haen’s contribution is difficult to assess, as few works are securely attributed to this painter from the north, whom Giulio Mancini (1558/59-1630) described as ‘Compagnio di questo [Van Baburen]’,⁵ and it is impossible to examine the lunettes high up on the wall sufficiently closely to distinguish subtle differences in execution. In any event, the altarpiece and the Carrying of the Cross are unanimously regarded as works by Van Baburen on stylistic grounds.⁶ As for the altarpiece, a reproductive etching [6] bearing the inscription which reads ‘Theod. Bab. Pinx/ Sup. Licentia’ authenticates his authorship as well.⁷ In addition, the date of 1617 and a signature with initials were reported on the altarpiece, which were misread as ‘T. R.’ instead of ‘T. B. [Theodoor Baburen]’ in the 19th century.⁸ The signature and the date are no longer visible, but the date 1617 seems trustworthy and accords well with the artist’s style and career.

1 Altarpiece by Dirck van Baburen in the Pietà chapel in San Pietro in Montorio

The owner of the chapel and donor of the paintings was a Spanish nobleman, Pietro Cussida (also Pedro Cuside or Cosida; died 1622), who was a representative of the Spanish king.⁹ His duties included the supervision of the Spanish College in Rome and reporting on its activities to the Duke of Lerma (1552/3-1625), the favourite of Philip III (1578-1621). The procurement of artworks for the king is said to have been his responsibility as well.

It seems plausible that Cussida had previously commissioned the Arrest of Christ [7] from Van Baburen. Stylistically, the painting must have preceded the chapel, as there is still some awkwardness in the depiction of the protagonists. It had been inherited in the Gabotti Collection, and Italian art historian Cecilia Grilli discovered that the painting entered the Gabotti family through the marriage of Maria Gabotti to Gian Francesco Cussida, a son of Pietro.¹⁰ That makes Cussida Van Baburen’s first known patron in Rome.

In the Entombment altarpiece, Christ’s slumped pose, with his torso fairly upright and the legs protruding towards the viewer, is a bold approach, and attempts have been made to find the pictorial source or sources for the contrivance. I have argued elsewhere that Van Baburen, acutely aware of the Spanish-ness of his commission, may have included a kind of quotation from Titian’s Entombment belonging to the Spanish king, in addition to the apparent reference to Caravaggio’s famous Entombment [8] in Chiesa Nuova.¹¹

It might seem a bit far-fetched, but a sketch by Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) after Van Baburen’s Christ in the altarpiece [9] had long been regarded as an unknown Titian (1488/1490-1576) before Slatkes pointed out that the sketch was made after the Dutch painter.¹² It seems that Van Baburen was well aware of his patron’s taste and combined elements from the art of Caravaggio (1571-1610), who was then in vogue, that of Spanish Ribera and of Titian, the king’s painter. It is not known how Van Baburen came into contact with the Spaniard, but we might get a clue by examining of Honthorst’s early career.

8
Caravaggio
The Entombment of Christ, between c. 1602-1603
Rome, Musei Vaticani

9
Anthony van Dyck after Tiziano and after Dirck van Baburen
Sketches of the crucifixion and the entombment of Christ, 1623
London (England), British Museum, inv./cat.nr. 1957,1214.207.22