Large canvas depicting 'Saint Martin of Tours divides his cloak'

(The mercy of St. Martin)

Oil on canvas, 123 x 109 cm.

with frame 134 x 120 cm.

We share a valuable work, capable of enthusing any connoisseur or collector of works from the Flemish Golden Age: we are talking about an oil painting on canvas, which re-proposes the famous 'Saint Martin divides the mantle' made by Anthon van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 - London 1641) between 1618 and 1621; purchased by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Brabant, Baron Ferdinand van Boisschot, for the high altar of the church of Zaventem, Belgium (https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images/37030), it became one of Van's paintings Dyck most popular in Flanders. (pic.1)

The scene, which depicts Saint Martin of Tours (c.316-c.397), one of the most revered saints in the West, as well as patron saint of France, expresses the typical ways of the great Flemish artist: Martin is represented before his Christian conversion, still a Roman soldier, with the prestigious armor, covered by a red cloak with a large drapery and a plumed helmet, astride his steed.

The subject shows the most representative episode of his life and that will push him to leave the army to convert to Christianity. According to the legend, Martin, seeing a half-naked beggar suffering from the cold, cut your cloak in two by handing him one half, with a gesture of great mercy that made the sky clear and mitigate the temperature. That same night, Martin had a vision of Jesus who, while visiting him, brought back the missing piece of the cloak; when he woke up he found the cloak again intact.

The success of the work favored a conspicuous diffusion, so much so that today there are numerous paintings made by artists from the Van Dyck circle / workshop or active immediately after the creation of the altarpiece, to satisfy some client. who wished to have his own version.

A second variant, from around 1620, more complex and more similar to the one proposed, enriched by a greater number of characters, is that of the English Royal Collection, now kept at Windsor Castle in the King's Drawing Room (https: //www.rct .uk / collection / 405878 / st-martin-dividing-his-cloak-0). This dates from around 1620 and was likely left in Rubens' studio after van Dyck's departure that year - several copies exist, indicating it was still in Antwerp and available for other artists to copy.

One of Rubens' most gifted pupils and assistant, it is assumed that Van Dick made both versions, that of Zaventem and that of the Royal Collection, when he was still working in his master's studio in Antwerp, and that before being delivered to their clients there they remained even after Van Dyck left in 1620.

It is our opinion that the painting presented here, finely executed with its effective composition and unusual iconography, is the work of a Flemish author, active around the end of the seventeenth / early eighteenth century who reworked Van Dyck's masterpiece with great skill. ;

The painting is in good condition, with a beautiful gilded wooden frame.

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