Carl Borromäus Andreas Ruthart

(Danzig 1630 - circa 1703 L’Aquila)
Nebuchadnezzar’s madness,
monogrammed lower right (on the sheet held by the monkey): A. R. F.,
oil on canvas, 220 x 295 cm, framed

Provenance:
Aristocratic collection, Southern Italy

We are grateful to Filippo Maria Ferro for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

According to the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind during the course of his reign, and retired to live in the wilderness like an animal, until he recovered after seven years. Theologians have interpreted this episode variously: Origen of Alexandria took this metamorphosis to be a representation of Lucifer, the fallen angel. Jean Bodin and Philipp Clüver thought of a physical as well as spiritual transformation in contrast to Tertullian who had circumscribed the change to the physical domain only. The most broadly diffuse opinion however, was that first advanced by Saint Jerome, whereby in the very moment that he celebrated himself, the vainglorious king became mad, thereby fulfilling the prophetic dream of Daniel. In the present paintiong Carl Ruthart portrays the powerful king of Babylon naked, kneeling on the ground, in a wild landscape populated by animals.

The painter was born in 1630 in the Prussian city of Danzig, a member of the Hanseatic League; his training took place at Antwerp under the guidance of Franz Snyders and Paul de Vos and he became a member of the local Guild in 1663-1664. As a specialist animal painter, he was interested in capturing all the vitality of the animal world all and his compositions included wild animal hunts: most frequently stag, boar and bear hunts. Among the wild beasts he represented were leopards, lions and tigers attacking deer and antelope, not only depicting the exotic, but also the principle of the struggle for life. Such paintings were highly esteemed and his work entered the finest European collections (see T. von Frimmel, Carl Andreas Ruthart, in: Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, IX, 1886, pp. 129-149; T. von Frimmel, Ruthart, Karl Andreas, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, , 1890, vol. 30, p. 47; T. von Frimmel, Carl Andreas Ruthart, in: Studien und Skizzen zur Gemäldekunde, IV, 1918-1919, pp. 1-13; F. Meyer, Enige schilderijen met vee van C. B. A. Ruthart, in: Oud-Holland, 104, 1990, pp. 331-335: H. Voss, 1935; E. Acanfora, Biografia di C. A. Ruthart, in: Mina Gregori. Uffizi e Pitti. I dipinti delle Gallerie fiorentine, Udine 1994, scheda cat. 725, p. 665; G. e U. Bocchi, Carl Borromeus Andreas Ruthart detto Carlo Ruttardo, in: Pittori di natura morta a Roma. Artisti stranieri 1630-1750, Castello Viadana 2004, pp. 99-115).

In the early 1670s in Rome Ruthart entered the Celestine Order, founded by Celestine V. He then moved to the monasteries of the Abruzzi, first to Sulmona and then to L’Aquila. His religious life did not deter him from painting however as shown by Adam naming the animals in the earthly garden executed in 1686 and now in the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky. Inspiration derived from the landscape of the Abruzzi, lent his work a poetic intensity that stimulated and celebrated a new idea of ‘wilderness’. Additionally, Carl Borromeus, now called Fra’ Andrea, composed a series of large canvases with Stories of Celestine V and of other members of the Order (Theodore, Deicolo) for the abbey of Collemaggio (A. Leosini, Monumenti storici artistici della città di Aquila e suoi contorni colle notizie de’ pittori scultori architetti ed altri artefici che vi fiorirono, L’Aquila 1848, p. 101; L. Serra, Aquila monumentale, L’Aquila 1912; M. Gabbrielli, Inventario degli oggetti d’arte d’Italia, IV, Provincia di Aquila, Roma 1934, pp. 25-26; M. Moretti, Museo Nazionale d’Abruzzo nel castello cinquecentesco, L’Aquila 1968, p. 203).

The madness of Nebuchadnezzar is a significant masterpiece of Ruthart’s period in the Abruzzi, circa 1680: it fully expresses the singular poetic quality he acquired there. An especially unique feature of the present work is its monogramme: A.R.F (Andreas Ruthart fecit) revealing the painter’s religious name.