Rare Rubens notebook sheet goes on display in artist's home city of Antwerp

A rare double-sided sheet attributed to Peter Paul Rubens has been displayed in Antwerp. The sheet is believed to come from a Roman sketchbook used while Rubens lived near the Spanish Steps with his brother Philip. One side contains a quick brown-ink sketch of three men in classical robes, likely apostles, with jagged lines at the top suggesting quill testing. The figures do not match known Rubens works, leaving uncertainty about whether they were imagined or copied from Roman sources. The reverse holds an incomplete draft letter dated September 1607 to Italian painter Cristoforo Roncalli. Roncalli was commissioned by Eleonora de’ Medici, duchess of Mantua, and Rubens sought updates on the painting’s progress for her private chapel.

"A rare sheet, thought to be from his Roman sketchbook, has gone on display in his home city of Antwerp, shedding new light on the baroque master. Unveiled to the public for the first time is a unique double-sided sheet featuring a drawing on one side and a partial draft letter on the reverse. The curator of the Rubenshuis museum, An Van Camp, thinks it probably came from a sketchbook that Rubens used during his time in Rome, where he lived with his brother Philip near the Spanish Steps."

"On one side is a quick, spontaneous sketch in brown ink of three men in classical robes, thought to be apostles. At the top of the page are a few thick jagged lines, assumed to be Rubens testing his quill pen. The three figures are not known to appear in any Rubens work and it is not clear whether the artist imagined them or copied something he had seen in Rome."

"The reverse is an incomplete draft letter to an Italian painter, Cristoforo Roncalli, who had been commissioned by their mutual patron, Eleonora de' Medici, the duchess of Mantua, to paint a work for her private chapel. Rubens was employed as a painter to the Mantua court between 1600 and 1608. In the letter, which is dated September 1607, Rubens, then 30, asks the older artist about the painting's progress on behalf of his most serene mistress."

"Van Camp imagines it must have been an awkward conversation. She said: In this draft letter, he is really trying to find the right words, the right tone to be diplomatic, to not offend the Italian painter, but also to make it very clear that he really needs to check the painting for the duchess and that time is running out. The handwriting was quite sloppy, she said"

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