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Date : approx. between 1616 and 1623
Sizes : 108 cm x 41 cm
Material : Oil on canvas
Acquisition : Holwell Carr Bequest (1831)
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Flemish and Northern Painting
Painting
Area related
Gand (Belgium)
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| Description |  |
Renouncing his life as a soldier, Bavo, wearing a red cloak, enters the monastery. His wealth is distributed to the poor. Bishop Maes commissioned Rubens to paint a triptych for St Bravo's cathedral in Ghent, but the project was abandoned when he died in 1612.
This painting has been associated with a documented sketch painted before 1612, which Rubens considered the most beautiful thing he had ever done. However, there are stylistic grounds for speculating that it could be a later effort by Rubens to regain the commission from successive bishops of Ghent between 1616 and 1623.
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