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'The Death of Adonis', attributed to Peter Paul Rubens (1639)
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Art Museum
Painting again attributed to Rubens
A painting in oil on wood has once again been attributed to Peter Paul Rubens: The Death of Adonis (1639) received the reassessment from the Princeton University Art Museum, which has owned the work for nearly 100 years. Since the mid-20th century, there had been doubts about the attribution.
October 11, 2023
In 2019, experts decided to take a closer look at the oil sketch on wood titled The Death of Adonis. The Princeton University Art Museum acquired the work in the 1930s, then attributed to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Doubts arose in subsequent decades, and in the 1990s the museum changed the authorship to »formerly attributed to Peter Paul Rubens«. After the last examination, the experts are certain: the original attribution was correct. After an elaborate restoration, the result is unambiguous. The oil sketch, measuring about 35 x 52 cm, dates from 1639 and could have been a study for a planned painting that Rubens may not have been able to execute. The famous painter died the following year.
Around 1614, Rubens had already created a painting with the same subject. It is now in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and shows the mourning of Venus, Cupid and the three Graces for the slain Adonis.
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