VINCKBOONS, David
(b. 1576, Mechelen, d. ca. 1633, Amsterdam)

Forest Landscape with Two of Christ's Miracles

1600-10
Oil on panel, 58 x 95 cm
Private collection

This is a fine example of a forest landscape by Vinckboons. He produced similar compositions in other forest landscapes in the first decade of the seventeenth century. These landscapes respond strongly to forest scenes by Gillis van Coninxloo, who worked in Amsterdam from 1595 until his death.

In the present painting the story of Jairus's daughter and the woman who touches Jesus's garment is illustrated. Christ and the Apostles have crossed over the Sea of Galilee, enduring a great storm, to the land of the Gadarenes. Christ sets off to Jairus's house. Among the crowd following him is a woman who has had an "issue of blood twelve years." She touches Christ's garment and is immediately healed. This miracle is shown on the of the canvas. Two distant sailboats in the central background indicate the crossing over the Sea of Galilee.

Formerly, this panel was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It was sold for the Acquisitions Fund in 2013.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.