Erasme Quellin, Solomon offering sacrifices to dedicate the Temple

This work was erroneously attributed, on the basis of a handwritten inscription on the reverse of the painting, to the painter Gérard de Lairesse (c. 1641–1711) at the time of its purchase. This attribution was corrected by Jacques Foucart when the work was presented at the exhibition *The Age of Rubens in French Public Collections*, held at the Grand Palais in 1977. One can indeed recognise the colour palette, the Baroque composition—characterised by the scene’s arrangement across several levels and the multitude of planes and figures—as well as the classical influence evident in the architecture, as seen in the work of Erasmus Quellin around the 1650s.

Jan Erasmus Quellinus, or Erasme Quellin (1634–1715), was a renowned Antwerp painter from the Quellinus (French: Quellin) dynasty of artists, who saw a flood of commissions following the death of Peter Paul Rubens in 1640. He trained in Antwerp under his father, Erasmus Quellinus II, a painter heavily influenced by Rubens’s style. Erasme Quellin himself became a pupil of Rubens, then a close collaborator from 1630 onwards. He played a key role in Antwerp’s artistic renown, notably through his erudition. He also engaged in fruitful exchanges with Anton van Dyck, whose refined style influenced Quellin from 1640 onwards.

The Rubensian influence is evident in his early work in his treatment of the human form, his Baroque compositions and the care he took in rendering textures. To round off his training, Erasmus Quellin travelled to Italy, where he stayed in Naples, Florence, Rome and Venice. It was the Venetian painters who left a lasting impression on him, particularly Veronese, the painter of *The Wedding at Cana*, from whom he borrowed his theatrical compositions, with expansive and transparent backdrops, as well as a colour palette: the colours became softer, with sparkling yellows, lighter reds, delicate pinks and luminous light blues, as seen in the painting held at Aulteribe or *The Birth of the Virgin* in the Prado Museum.

After his stay in Italy, he returned to Antwerp and enrolled as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in 1660–1661. He subsequently married the daughter of the painter David II Teniers and established a large studio in which he trained numerous apprentices. Whilst several of his major works bear the mark of Rubens’s Baroque style, a certain restraint in his brushwork gradually emerged, alongside the assertion of monumental architectural settings (as in *Tethys Immersing Achilles in a Vase Containing the Waters of the Styx*, 1668. Sotheby’s auction, Amsterdam, 18 May 2004) and the use of a shimmering colour palette have led to Quellin being regarded as one of the precursors of Classicism in Flemish painting.

His influence grew following Rubens’s death in 1640, and he received numerous official commissions, particularly for religious works. The Counter-Reformation (the Roman Catholic reaction against the Reformation) spurred religious commissions following the recapture of Antwerp in 1585. It was in this context that Quellin was chosen by the Jesuits and the Dominicans, as religious triumphalism fitted perfectly with the Baroque aesthetic.

Aulteribe’s work depicts the inauguration of the Temple newly built by Solomon. This Temple was built around 968 BC to house the Ark of the Covenant and to allow God to manifest his presence amongst the chosen people. Solomon’s Temple had a profound influence on the rituals, theology and architecture of the three monotheistic religions.

The First Book of Kings recounts that the Temple built by Hiram and inaugurated by King Solomon was situated at the place where he performed his sacrifices. Temple worship thus combined animal sacrifices, grain offerings and libations. Hymns were sung – many of which are said to have inspired the Psalms – before the sacrificial meal was shared.

The celebration of the covenant at Passover takes place three times a year: at Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles, and on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Israelite calendar). The high priest stands before God to atone for the sins of Israel. Solomon wished for the Temple to be a house of prayer for Israel, but also for all other nations.

This context helps us to grasp the significance of this sacrificial scene in the iconography of Solomon’s Temple. The crowned figure represents Solomon, who is looking up towards the heavens where an angel appears to him above the Ark of the Covenant. Below, a lamb is being sacrificed to mark the occasion, whilst other animals are being prepared for sacrifice. Five figures playing trumpets evoke the hymns.

A preparatory sketch sold at Christie’s in 2011 shows how the painter developed his preparatory drawing. Indeed, in the sketch, a statue of the Roman god Mars replaces the Ark of the Covenant, and the entire upper section of the composition has been enriched: the addition of an angel, the presence of Solomon beneath a canopy high above, and the introduction of movement in the left-hand side of the painting, thereby allowing the small bowl—which appeared somewhat isolated in the foreground of the preparatory sketch—to be made to disappear.

In the Wake of Rubens: Erasme Quellin, [Cassel, Museum of Flanders, 5 April – 7 September 2014. Exhibition catalogue, edited by Jean-Pierre De Bruyn, Ghent, Snoeck Publishers, 2014.

 The Age of Rubens in French Public Collections [Paris, Grand Palais, 17 November 1977–13 March 1978], exhibition catalogue edited by Jacques Foucart, Paris, 1977, no. 106.