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Did you know that Grasse Cathedral houses original works by Peter Paul Rubens?

Did you know that Grasse Cathedral houses original works by Peter Paul Rubens?

Notre-Dame-du-Puy Cathedral is home to some real treasures. Among its highlights are The Washing of the Feet by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, one of the rare religious works by the Grasse artist; and Charles Nègre's painting, Death of Saint Paul, First Hermit .

But also Saint Helen and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross , The Crowning with Thorns and The Erection of the Cross. Three works by Peter Paul Rubens, a Flemish Baroque painter, known in particular for The Fall of the Damned , The Tiger Hunt and The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus ...

Works measuring over 2m x 1.50m, painted at the very beginning of his career, which, for Édouard Michel – French art historian and author of the book Les Rubens classés de l'hospice de Grasse – give the fundamental characteristics of the painter's development, between the ages of 24 and 27.

"This prestigious treatment of light is enough to indicate genius."

For it was in 1602, while Rubens was traveling in Rome, that he was chosen to create these works, at the request of Archduke Albert. The latter then wished to offer them to the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in Rome.

In a letter dated January 26, 1602, we learn that Rubens had already handed over the painting on the main altar to Jean Richardot, and that the latter asked the Duke of Gonzaga not to recall his painter to Mantua before he had completed the other two paintings on the side altars.

Thus were born Saint Helen and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross , The Crowning with Thorns , and The Erection of the Cross. On the first mentioned, also the first to have been painted, Édouard Michel explains that "the composition [...] is still marked by clumsiness and inexperience" .

The cross is "clumsily placed next to the saint, without the link that unites them being clearly visible" , the contours are hard, the rings thick, "the colouring has neither transparency nor fluidity" ...

But he also notes "the innate science of lighting" , the "discovery of these rays of light which play on the sides and above the architectural screen... [..] This prestigious treatment of light alone is enough to indicate genius."

Sold at auction in London

But how did these paintings end up in Grasse? After Rubens' works were apparently moved within the church because they were getting damp, they were then transported to England in 1811 and sold at auction in 1812.

John Smith, in his Catalogue raisonné , even specifies that Saint Helena was paid 380 guineas, The Coronation 760, and The Crucifixion 280 pounds.

But why did they leave Italy and what happened to them afterward? Everything is unclear, and the paintings seem lost. Some claim that one of the works lies at the bottom of the sea.

A man from Grasse found them in Leipzig in 1827

But in 1881, Charles Ruelens, secretary of the committee of historians and specialists, wishing to honor Peter Paul Rubens, found their traces in Grasse. The paintings have been hanging there... since 1827!

It was Mr. Perolle, an industrialist from Grasse, who allegedly found them in Leipzig, while he was on his way there for his business in perfume raw materials.

The paintings were allegedly given to him in payment of a debt of 80,000 francs, owed by an insolvent debtor...

Fortunately, Charles Ruelens was unable to bring the three pieces back to Antwerp, the city where Rubens died, as the conditions of the legacy were very clear and sale was prohibited... And the paintings of the great Flemish painter, the first of his career, are therefore still hanging on the walls of Grasse Cathedral.

Nice Matin

Nice Matin

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