The Holy Women at the Sepulchre
c. 1611-14
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
On View

On the third day after the Crucifixion, women visiting Christ's tomb are greeted by two angels surrounded by a blazing light of celestial radiance [Luke 24:4]. The angels deliver the astonishing news of the Resurrection. Each woman reacts differently to the miraculous announcement, contemplating the profound significance of what they have heard.

Working under the influence of Roman art, Rubens gives a deeply sculptural effect to this dramatic composition. Using highly rounded forms, with clear contours and rich colors, he creates a surging movement of rhythmic undulations from left to right. Though the exact identity of each figure has fallen into question, recent debate has convincingly suggested that the woman shielding her eyes with her veil is Mary Magdalene. The central figure is the Virgin Mary, whose form is derived directly from the Roman "Pudicitia," now in the Vatican.

Details

  • Artist Name: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
  • Title: The Holy Women at the Sepulchre
  • Date: c. 1611-14
  • Medium: Oil on panel
  • Dimensions: framed: 46 x 53-3/4 in. (116.8 x 136.5 cm); panel: 34-1/2 x 42-1/4 in. (87.6 x 107.3 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1972.51.P
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

Possibly commisioned by a member of the Clarisse family, Antwerp ca. 1617.
probably Friedrich Karl Lang (1766-1822), ca. 1796 – ca. 1804 to;
[Dominic Artaria, buying for];
Johann Rudolf, Count Czernin collection, (Vienna, 1757-1845);
Czernin Collection, Vienna (on loan to Residenzgalerie, Salzburg from 1955-1971).
[Pinakos, Ltd., sold 30 April 1971 to];
[Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, stock J7255 as Holy Women and the Two Angels, sold 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.

Exposition d'art ancien. L'art belge au XVII siècle

  • Musée du Cinquantenaire, 1910-06 to 1910-11

Drei Jahrhunderte Vlämische Kunst, 1400-1700

  • Vienna, Weiner Secession, 1930-01-11 to 1930-02-23

[on loan]

  • Salzburg, Residenzgalerie, 1955 to 1972

[on loan]

  • Prague, 1966 to 1966

[on loan]

  • Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972-07-26 to 1973-09-10

[on loan]

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973-09-14 to 1974-04-04

[on loan]

  • Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum, 1974-04-10 to 1974-11-10

[on loan]

  • Phoenix, Phoenix Art Museum, 1980-11-21 to 1981-05-20

Masterpieces of European Painting from the Norton Simon Museum

  • The Frick Collection, 2009-02-10 to 2009-05-10

Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension

  • Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
  • Steinberg, Leo, Source: Notes in the History of Art, pp. 77-79
  • Sutton, Peter, The Age of Rubens, fig. 6 p. 152
  • Rooses, Max, L'oeuvre de P. P. Rubens, vol. 2, pp. 151-152, no. 340, pl. 116; vol. 5, p. 328 p. 151-152; 328
  • Frimmel, Theodor von, Kunstchronik, p. 542
  • Dillon, F., Rubens, pl. CCXV
  • Hymans, H., Gazette des Beaux Arts, p. 332
  • Glück, Gustav, Belvedere, p. 168
  • Evers, Hans Gerard, Peter Paul Rubens,
  • Baldass, Ludwig, Pantheon, p. 136
  • Gerson, Horst, The Connoisseur, fig. 3 p. 163
  • Anonymous, Apollo, pl. III p. 144-147
  • von Bertuch, Carl, Bemerkungen auf einer Reise aus Thüringen nach Wien in Winter 1805 bis 1806, 1808,
  • Smith, John, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish & French Painters, 1829, vol. 2 (1830),, no. 945; vol. 9 (1842) , p. 328, no. 310 p. 281; 328
  • Perger, A. von, Öesterreich Blätter für Literatur und Kunst, 1853, pp. 236-237
  • Waagen, Gustav F., Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wein, 1866, no. 24 p. 298
  • Lavice, A., Revue des Musées d' Allemagne, 1867, p. 449
  • Mundler, O., Zeitschrift fur bildende Kunst, 1867, p. 48
  • Burchkhardt, Jakob, Erinnrungen aus Rubens, 1898, p. 39
  • Frimmel, T., Handschriftl. Aufzeichnungen, 1901,
  • Rooses, Max, Rubens' Leven und Werke, 1903, pl. 116 pp. 151-152
  • P.P. Rubens, Des Meisters Gemälde, 1907, p. 204
  • Rooses, Max, Rubens-Bulletijn, 1910, no. 340 p. 295
  • Anonymous, Trésor de l'art belge au XVII siècle: mémorial de l'Exposition d'art ancienà Bruxelles en 1910 . . ., 1912, no. 322
  • Oldenbourg, R., P. P. Rubens, Des Meisters Gemälde, 1921, p. 79
  • Die Zeichmungen von P. P. Rubens, 1928,
  • Keiser, E., Müchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 1933, p. 132
  • Lehmann, F. R., P. P. Rubens: Menschen und Mächte des Barocks, ein Zeitbild, 1936,
  • Wiczek, Karl, Katalog der Graf Czernin'schen Gemaldgälerie in Wein, 1936, no. 168 pp. 76-77
  • Wülfingen, Bock von, Rubens in der deutschen Kunst Betrachtung, 1942,
  • Arents, P., Rubens-Bibliografie, Geschriften van en aan Rubens, 1943,
  • Burckhard, Jakob, Recollections of Rubens, 1950, p. 39
  • Katalog der Residenzgalerie Salzburg mit Sammlung Czernin, 1955, no. 109, pl. 3 pp. 56-57
  • Jaffé, Michael, Wadsworth Anthenaeum Bulletin, 1961, pp. 12-13
  • Katalog der Residenzgalerie Salzburg mit Sammlung Czernin und Sammlung Schönborn-Bruchheim, 1962, pl. 7 pp. 72-73
  • Stechow, Wolfgang, Rubens and the Classical Tradition, 1968, fig. 48 p. 55, 58
  • Jaffé, Michael, Rubens and Italy, 1977, p. 25, 81
  • Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, 1979, p. 242
  • Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum, 1980, p. 47
  • Held, Julius S., The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens, 1980, fig. 16 pp. 52, 440-441, 505
  • Agnew, Geoffrey, et al., A Dealer's Record. Agnew's 1967-81, 1981, p. 80
  • De Grummond, Nancy, The Ringling Museum of Art Journal, 1982, fig. 10 pp. 78-90
  • Coffey, Susan C., Peter Paul Rubens, 1984, col. pl. 3, 3a pp. 9-14, cover
  • Freedberg, David, The Life of Christ after the Passion: Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, part VII, 1984, no. 6, figs., 8, 12, 13 pp. 21-22, 39-42
  • Held, Julius, Source: Notes in the History of Art, 1989, pp. 66-76
  • Jaffé, Michael, Catalogo Completo Rubens, 1989, no. 267 p. 198
  • Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, pp. 56-57
  • Bauman, Guy; and Walter A. Liedtke, et al., Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America, 1992, fig. 422 p. 363
  • White, Christopher, The Age of Rubens, 1993, fig. 6 p. 152
  • Taft, W. Stanly, Jr., and James. W. Mayer, The Science of Paintings, 2000, color pl. 20 p. 66
  • Meij, Dr. A.W.F.M., Rubens, Jordaens, van Dyck and Their Circle, 2001, fig. 2 p. 316-318
  • Haag, Sabine, Elke Oberthaler and Sabine Pénot, Vermeer: Die Malkunst, 2010, pp. 70, 72-73, 137; ill. 10-11, 286-289
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 890 p. 348
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Additional Artwork by Artist

Autograph Letter (Written in Secretary's Hand in Dutch, Signed by Rubens on Verso) Peter Paul Rubens 1618
David Slaying Goliath Peter Paul Rubens c. 1616
Meleager and Atalanta and the Hunt of the Calydonian Boar Peter Paul Rubens c. 1618-19

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