C. Hofstede de Groot
A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century
Based on the Work of John Smith. Volume I
Carel Fabritius
Barend Fabritius
The blind Tobit
Museum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck
1
Carel FabritiusTobias and His Wife
25 1/2 inches by 28 inches
Canvas on panel
Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Tschager bequest
In an open place overgrown with vine in front of their house, Tobias and his wife are seated on a bench by the sunlit wall, in the centre of the picture. Tobias, wearing a large cloak, rests his feet on a stool and folds his hands in prayer; he turns his head away from his wife who sits beside him to the left. The woman, who wears a dark cap and holds a reel, turns three-quarters right and appears to be arguing with her blind husband, to convince him of her innocence in regard to the kid which stands farther back to the left under a hedge. Above the hedge is seen a landscape with a building to the right. Tobias's dog sleeps at his feet. His stick stands against the wall near the door. The picture was one of the artist's last works. It was long regarded as a Rembrandt, and was etched as such by G.F. Schmidt, 1773
Circle of Rembrandt
Salome Receiving the Head of John the Baptist
c. 1640-45
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
2
Carel FabritiusThe Beheading of John the Baptist
59 1/2 inches by 48 inches
Canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The figures are three-quarters length. In the centre of the picture, behind the nude corpse of John, which is strongly foreshortened, stands the executioner. He holds in his left hand a dish with the severed head, and in his right hand the sword. He wears a shirt, open at the throat, and with the sleeves turned up. A bristly beard surrounds his red face. His head is wrapped round with a white cloth. He turns slightly to the right, towards Salome, who stands beside him facing to the left in profile. Salome wears a dark green costume over a white under-garment with broad sleeves, and a plumed hat. Behind her to the left the heads of a man and a woman are seen in front of a stone pilaster. Behind the executioner to the left is an old woman. The attribution to C. Fabritius is very uncertain. It was formerly called a Rembrandt, and described as such by Sm. (Rembrandt, 120) after the engraving by Claessens. For a time Willem Drost was thought to be the painter.
Carel Fabritius
View in Delft
1652
The National Gallery, London
4
Carel FabritiusA Musical Instrument Dealer at His Booth in the Open Air
Signed on the wall to the left and dated 1652
Collection of Sir William Eden, Ferry Hill, Durham
To the right is the south-eastern side of the Nieuwe Kerk at Delft. A street with a canal at the side of it forms the foreground; it leads over one of the high stone bridges so characteristic of Delft. It continues on the opposite side, along a row of fine gabled houses. Here and there is a solitary tree. Near the church is seen the town hall; this part of the picture is enlivened by the little figure of a woman at the water's edge. In the right hand of the picture a man sits, deep in thought, under a tent set before a wall; some musical instruments lie near him. Behind the tent is a high lattice overgrown with vine. A table with a violin upon it stands near; a lute is placed against the wall.
Carel Fabritius
The Sentry
1654
Staatliches Museum, Schwerin
5
Carel FabritiusThe Landsknecht
27 inches by 23 inches
Canvas
Signed in the bottom left-hand corner, "C. FABRITIVS : 1654"
Museum, Schwerin
On a long low wooden bench to the right sits a young landsknecht, with his morion on his head, and his right leg stretched out. He leans forward to clean the musket lying across his knees. His broad leather strap has slipped down from his left shoulder to his fore-arm; the straight sword attached to it rests between his legs. At the soldier's feet is a black dog. Behind the man is a low wall, illumined by sunlight. It ends to the left in a Roman Doric pillar, on which notices are posted; a vine grows luxuriantly over the wall. Behind it, to the right, is a staircase leading to an open door on an upper storey. Below this to the left a flat arched opening gives a view over a landscape; in the distance are seen a long low tiled roof and a larger house amidst trees. On the wall above the door is a relief, still half visible, representing St. Anthony with his pig.
Carel Fabritius
Portrait of Abraham de Potter
1649
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
6
Carel FabritiusHalf-length Portrait of Abraham de Notte
27 1/2 inches by 23 inches
Canvas
Signed at the top to the right, "Abraham de Notte, Aets 56. C. fabritius 1640 f. "; the last figure of the date is not quite clear, and ought, perhaps, to be read as a "6" or a "9"
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
The sitter is turned to the right, with hands folded below his breast. He is dressed in black, with a white collar. His hair is dark; his beard and moustache are fairer. In the vivid colouring of the face there are many red and yellow tones. It is painted almost entirely without deep shadows on a light greenish-yellow background.
Carel Fabritius
Self-Portrait
c. 1647-48
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
9
Carel FabritiusHalf-length Portrait of a Man
25 1/2 inches by 19 inches
Oak panel
Signed in the right-hand upper corner "fabritius"
Boymans Museum, Rotetrdam
He faces the spectator, but turns slightly to the right. His head is bare, and his dark brown hair falls in thick curls on his shoulders. He wears a dark brown costume cut square at the neck, showing the half-open white shirt, the neck, and part of the breast. The background is greyish green. The picture was formerly attributed to Rembrandt, until the signature was discovered in 1859.
Formerly attributed to Carel Fabritius
Man in a Helmet
Groninger Museum, Groningen, bequest Dr C. Hofstede de Groot
10
Carel FabritiusHalf-length Portrait of a Soldier
14 inches by 11 inches
Panel
Collection of P. von Delarof, St. Petersburg
The soldier wears over a brown costume a yellowish-grey cloak fastened by a clasp on the left shoulder, a cuirass, a broad pleated collar, and a steel helmet. His hair, moustache, and beard are black. He is placed in front of a white background like "The Goldfinch" in the Mauritshuis (16) and the soldier in the picture at Schwerin (5). In the upper left-hand corner is lightly sketched a bracket, which — to judge from the line of shadow — supports an arch. From the same direction a strong light falls on the soldier's face; his forehead is overshadowed by the helmet. It is broadly painted, and full of light and vigour.
Carel Fabritius
The Goldfinch
1654
Mauritshuis, The Hague
16
Carel FabritiusThe Goldfinch
13 inches by 9 inches
Panel
Signed "C. Fabritius 1664"
Royal Picture Gallery, the Hague
A goldfinch sits, turned to the light, on a perch sticking out from a grey cage, which is fastened to a sunlit wall.