Travellers among Roman Ruins with Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well

Entry

As Faggin first recognized,⁷ depicted in the middle distance is Rebecca offering her pitcher to Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, as related in Genesis, 24:45-46.

The fountain required by the narrative is conveyed by a generalized depiction from the side of the fountain and bowl placed in the Foro Romano or Roman forum (Campo Vaccino) in Rome, in 1593.⁸ Sutton⁹ named the general setting as such, but it should rather be described as a capriccio view of ancient Rome for he himself identified the ruins as being from several parts of the city. On the right is the temple of Vespasian (showing Ionic rather than Corinthian capitals) with the temple of Saturn behind; beyond are the Palatine palaces. On the left is the temple of Minerva, demolished in 1602. Aikema¹⁰ subsequently demonstrated that the portrayal of the first two groups of monuments was taken from engravings by Hieronymus Cock (1518-1570).¹¹

The present painting was for long accepted as the work of Paulus Bril (1554-1626).¹² But an alteration circa 2003-04 to the museum inventory card gives Willem van Nieulandt II as the artist, which is an attribution first proposed by Faggin in 1965,¹³ and subsequently endorsed by Pijl.¹⁴ However, Cappelletti has recently reaffirmed, following Bodart¹⁵ and Aikema,¹⁶ the traditional attribution to Bril,¹⁷ while postulating some assistance from a collaborator in the foreground figures. However, there is more agreement over dating: Pijl placed it soon after 1604 (after Van Nieulandt’s return to Amsterdam); Cappelletti proposed immediately after 1602-03.

The matter of the signature has not been addressed,¹⁸ although obviously it is key. Visual examination suggests that it is integral, if damaged and strengthened, but evidently its status can only be properly determined by cleaning. Unusual are both its placement and the lettering in reddish pigment which make doubts about its authenticity legitimate.

In support of the traditional view of Bril’s authorship is the setting of Roman ruins which shows clear affinity with his signed View of the Campo Vaccino of 1600 in the Dresden Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.¹⁹ Further, the dramatic contrast of light and shade was a device much favoured by Bril in these years.²⁰ But these factors have little weight in so far as Van Mander records that Van Nieulandt was Bril’s pupil in Rome circa 1600,²¹ and the more generalized facial types in the Rijksmuseum painting are rather to be associated with him than with Bril whose physiognomies are more characterful. Also, the introduction of the motif of Rebecca and Eliezer in such scenes was popular with Van Nieulandt²² as was to a lesser extent the presence of the resting travellers in his foregrounds.²³

Quite lacking in the present painting is the colourful, hard-edge style typical of Van Nieulandt in the first two decades of his activity; and it has to be asked whether the handling is of sufficient merit to justify an attribution to him in full. As the discoloured varnish impedes assessment of the handling and a resolution of the ambiguities attaching to the signature, it is best to qualify an attribution to him. Furthermore, the possibility cannot be excluded that the present painting is in fact an old copy of a lost composition by Van Nieulandt, thought at the time to be by Bril, whose signature was added in justification.

**Gregory Martin, 2022

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