The Four Elements. Earth (Borromeo series) - Jan Brueghel the Elder
Image series :
Notice n°1 sur 4 Notice suivante
Date :
Entre 1607 et 1608
Type of image :
Peinture sur cuivre
Dimensions (HxL cm) :
45x65 cm
Topic :
Storage Location :
Main number : INV 1092
Other inventory number: MR 595
Other inventory number: MR 595
Description
Background, God the Father points Adam and Eve to the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, the fruit of which must not be eaten, according to the Genesis account (notably II, 9 and 17).
From a series of four paintings, The Four Elements, commissioned from 1607 by the Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan, Federico Borromeo. Taken from Milan to Paris by Napoleon, two of them were indeed returned to Milan in 1815, L'Eau and Le Feu, now preserved at the Ambrosienne in Milan. The other two remained in the Louvre (despite agreements...).
Borromeo seems at first to have hesitated between the rather similar themes of Paradise and Earth.
History :
2. Probably painted in 1607-1608 and the first in the series.
Technical Data
Notice #025119
Image editing :
Image web
Copyright / Photographer :
Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Michel Urtado