Updated 07 March 2025
On Display Special Exhibition Wing
On Display
Special Exhibition Wing
Abundance (Abundantia)
| Date | c. 1630 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on panel |
| Size（cm） | 63.7 x 45.8 |
| Credit Line | Transferred from the Agency for Cultural Affairs |
| Standard ref. | Jaffé 986 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1978-0004 |
Like the study work Two Sleeping Children, this painting is a study created for an allegory of Abundance image. While the former was painted when Rubens was about 35 or 36 years old, this painting dates from his early 50s. This study is thought to have been a preparatory work for a tapestry, and originally formed a pair with Justice (private collection), also by Rubens's hand. The young woman in the center of the composition represents Abundance, and the cornucopia, symbol of abundance, is placed on her lap. The fruits that spill forth from the cornucopia symbolize the goodness of nature for mankind. Two putti are shown gathering the fruit that spills forth. The purse under the woman's foot represents material treasures in contrast with the natural treasures of the cornucopia. This is a superb preparatory work in oils by Rubens's own hand. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 27)
Provenance
Charles-Henry, Count of Heym; Duc de Beauvais sale, Paris, 1739(32); James Harris (this information is based on an inventory of the collection of James Harris, entitled: "My pictures, An Account of my Pictures, 1739"... : "bought at Cock's in Covent Garden at the sale of one Beauvais 1739... Two pictures, one of Plenty, the other of Justice... of Rubens..."; On the margin of the MS inventory, Newnham House, Basingstoke, in their possession since the 18th century; E. Victor Thaw, New York; Artemis, S.A., Brussels; David Carritt, London; Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, 1978, from which transferred to the NMWA, 1978.
Exhibition History
- 1957
- European pictures from an English Country, Agnew's, London, 28 June 1957 - 27 July 1957, cat. no. 14
- 1960
- King's Lynn, London, 0 1960 - 0 1960, cat. no. 21
- 1961
- Oil sketches and smaller pictures by Peter Paul Rubens, Agnew's, London, 20 February 1961 - 11 March 1961, cat. no. 35
- 1977
- P.P. Rubens: Gemälde - Ölskizzen - Zeichnungen, Königliches Museum der Schönen Künste, Antwerpen, 29 June 1977 - 30 September 1977, cat. no. 83, repr.
- 2018
- Rubens and the Birth of the Baroque, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 16 October 2018 - 20 January 2019, cat. no. 63
Bibliography
- 1644
- Ripa, Cesare. Iconologia, of uytbeeldingen des verstands. Amsterdam, 1644, p. 433.
- 1957
- Nicolson, Benedict. Pictures from Hampshire houses. The Burlington Magazine. vol. 99, no. 653, August 1957, p. 274, fig. 35.
- 1965
- Jaffé, Michael. Unpublished drawings by Rubens in French museums. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser.6, tome 66, septembre 1965, p. 177, fig. 4.
- 1975
- Haverkamp Begemann, Egbert. Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard. part X ("The Achilles series"), Brussel, 1975, p. 46.
- 1979
- Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser. 6, tome 93, Apr. 1979, "Chronique des Arts", p. 67, no. 338, repr.
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 251, repr.
- 1980
- Koshi, Koichi. Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 13 (1978), 1980, New Acquisitions (Painting). pp. 14-15, New Acquisitions (Catalogue). pp. 36-37, repr.
- 1980
- Held, Julius S. The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens: A Critical Catalogue. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1980, vol. 1, pp. 367-368, no. 274, vol. 2, col. pl. 15, pl. 268.
- 1989
- Jaffé, Michael. Rubens: catalogo completo. Mulazzani, Germano, trans. Milano, Rizzoli, 1989, pp. 317, no. 986, repr.
- 1989
- Kobayashi-Sato, Yoriko. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Japan I. Annual Report Bridgestone Museum of Art & Ishibashi Museum of Art. no. 37 (1988), 1989, p. 53, no. 33, repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 27, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 27, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 39, col. repr.
- 2018
- Rubens and the Birth of the Baroque (exh. cat.). Lo Bianco, Anna; Watanabe Shinsuke, eds. Tokyo, TBS Television, 2018, pp. 180-181, 291, cat. no. 63, col. repr.
- 2018
- Kofuku, Akira. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. [Tokyo], The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The Western Art Foundation, 2018, pp. 78-81, no. 20, col. repr.