{"type":"artobject","objectid":33564,"objectnumber":"y1991-41","sortnumber":"1991 41y","displaytitle":"The Four Evangelists","department":"European Painting and Sculpture ","classification":"Paintings","datebegin":1612,"dateend":1615,"datecomputed":1614,"daterange":"A.D. 1600-1700","displaydate":"ca. 1612–15","medium":"Oil on canvas","dimensions":"179 × 227.3 cm (70 1/2 × 89 1/2 in.)\r\nframe: 212.4 × 260.7 × 13.3 cm (83 5/8 × 102 5/8 × 5 1/4 in.)","dimensionsproposed":"","creditline":"Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund","markings":null,"inscribed":null,"signed":"Signed on book, bottom left: A. Bloemart fe.","catalograisonne":null,"creditlinerepro":"","restrictions":null,"nowebuse":"False","secondaryobjectnumber":null,"campuscollections":"false","on_view":false,"accessionyear":"1991-01-01","newaccession":0,"titles":[{"title":"The Four Evangelists","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"makers":[{"id":430,"displayname":"Abraham Bloemaert","displaydate":"1566–1651; born Gorinchem, Netherlands; died Utrecht, Netherlands","datebegin":1566,"dateend":1651,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Abraham Bloemaert, 1566–1651; born Gorinchem, Netherlands; died Utrecht, Netherlands","displayorder":1}],"depicted":[],"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"This canvas portrays the four evangelists with their symbols—Matthew with the angel, Mark with the lion, Luke with the ox, and John with the eagle—receiving the divine inspiration to compose their gospels. The subject is notable for its relative doctrinal neutrality and popularity among both Reformed and Catholic audiences of the day. The depiction of the evangelists as a group originated with Albrecht Dürer’s Four Apostles panels of 1526, but after Peter Paul Rubens painted the subject in 1614, its appeal subsided. Bloemaert’s work possesses a strong visual presence, suggesting that it was intended for display in a public context, perhaps in one of Utrecht’s clandestine Catholic churches. In the primarily Calvinist northern Netherlands, churches in Catholic Utrecht adhering to the old confession had to remain outwardly invisible. Spatial limitations often required altarpieces of nontraditional formats—even horizontal compositions, like The Four Evangelists. Bloemaert’s versatility and aptitude for appealing to audiences across confessional divides find striking testimony here.","remarks":"K 1-3 May 2012 "},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Handbook Entry","textentryhtml":"\r\nThe four evangelists traditionally appeared alone, but in 1526, Albrecht Dürer showed two groups of two evangelists, and about 1566, Frans Floris showed all four together. Other artists followed suit. Bloemaert’s student Hendrick Terbruggen (1588–1629) and Peter Paul Rubens prolonged the theme, but it disappeared after 1621.

\r\nHere the Utrecht painter attempts to unify the evangelists and their symbols in a logical, horizontal composition. Luke with his ox, Mark, John with his eagle, and Matthew with his angel are gathered around a table, each figure intently writing his Gospel. Mark’s lion peeks out from underneath a heavy carpet. Bloemaert boldly poses Matthew with his back toward the viewer, perhaps to convey an impression of an uncontrived gathering of figures in a realistic setting. The scene is set in a shallow space, but the vibrant coloring of the figures, the angularity of their poses, and the frontal lighting give the composition a feeling of depth. Various naturally observed details stand out, such as the broken rush seat of Matthew’s humble chair and Luke’s ox, which gazes out from this learned gathering. The patron saint of artists and doctors, Luke is shown with the tools of these professions, including the artist’s palette and the doctor’s bottle for urine samples, and he is writing the Gospel in Greek characters. One of the folio volumes at his feet bears Bloemaert’s signature on the spine.

\r\nUtrecht was a Catholic stronghold, and ­Bloemaert, a practicing Catholic, was a founding member of its painter’s guild in 1611; he had patrons in both the Northern and the Southern Netherlands. The location for which this painting was commissioned has not been identified. The subject of the four evangelists appealed to both Catholics and Protestants, so it might have been a \"safe\" subject for a Northern Netherlandish Catholic church.

","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"Col.. of Gommer Spranger, Amsterdam, inventory of 2 Sept., 1638?; sale, Amsterdam, March 9, 1734, lof 6?; sale, Amsterdam, October 4, 1769, lot 29; purchased for Dr. Mackleane; sold by Sotheby’s, London, July 6, 1988, lot 27, ill.; sold Christies, New York, May 31, 1991, lot 51.","remarks":"From accession card. "}],"media":[{"id":226364,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2038968","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":226365,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2038975","isprimary":0,"rank":10,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"Details","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":226366,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2038974","isprimary":0,"rank":11,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"Details","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":226367,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2038973","isprimary":0,"rank":12,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"Details","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"},{"id":226368,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2038969","isprimary":0,"rank":13,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"Details","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM Photo"}],"hasimage":"true","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013)","citation":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 193","date":2013,"id":1994,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/865020505"},{"boilertext":"Joaneath Spicer, Lynn Federle Orr, et. al., Masters of light: Dutch painters in Utrecht during the Golden Age, (Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery; New Haven; London: Yale University Press [distributor], 1997).","citation":"Joaneath Spicer, Lynn Federle Orr, et. al., Masters of light: Dutch painters in Utrecht during the Golden Age, (Baltimore: Walters Art Gallery; New Haven; London: Yale University Press [distributor], 1997)., cat. no. 3; p. 138-141 (illus.)","date":1997,"id":443,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/38269550"},{"boilertext":"Old master paintings, (London: Sotheby's, 1988).","citation":"Old master paintings, (London: Sotheby's, 1988)., no. 27","date":1988,"id":5093,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/40712712"},{"boilertext":"Marcel G. Roethlisberger, \"Bloemaert's altar-pieces and related paintings\" Burlington magazine 134, no. 1068 (Mar., 1992): p. 156-164.","citation":"Marcel G. Roethlisberger, \"Bloemaert's altar-pieces and related paintings\" Burlington magazine 134, no. 1068 (Mar., 1992): p. 156-164., p. 157, fig. 2; p. 159 and note 11; cover illus.","date":1992,"id":5094,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/845167387"},{"boilertext":"Newsletter (Princeton University, Art Museum) (Winter, 1992).","citation":"Newsletter (Princeton University, Art Museum) (Winter, 1992)., ill.","date":1992,"id":5095,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/31917350"},{"boilertext":"Marcel G. Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert and his sons: paintings and prints, (Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco, 1993).","citation":"Marcel G. Roethlisberger, Abraham Bloemaert and his sons: paintings and prints, (Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco, 1993)., Vol. 1: p. 190-193, no. 223;\r\nVol. 2: pl. 13 (clor); fig. 342","date":1993,"id":5096,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/29408322"},{"boilertext":"Gero Seelig, Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651): Studien zur Utrechter Malerei um 1620, (Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1997).","citation":"Gero Seelig, Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651): Studien zur Utrechter Malerei um 1620, (Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1997)., p. 300","date":1997,"id":5097,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/37531882"},{"boilertext":"Marcel G. Roethlisberger and Sally Metzler, Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651) and his time, (St. Petersburg, FL: Museum of Fine Arts, 2001).","citation":"Marcel G. Roethlisberger and Sally Metzler, Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651) and his time, (St. Petersburg, FL: Museum of Fine Arts, 2001)., p. 12; p. 42, cat. no. 7; p. 53, p. 56","date":2001,"id":5098,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/46469357"},{"boilertext":"

Catherine King, \"National Gallery 3902 and the theme of Luke the Evangelist as artist and physician\", Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 48, no. 2 (1985): p. 249-255.

","citation":"

Catherine King, \"National Gallery 3902 and the theme of Luke the Evangelist as artist and physician\", Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 48, no. 2 (1985): p. 249-255.

, p. 254, fig. 12","date":1985,"id":5099,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/1482280"},{"boilertext":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Lyckle de Vries, Stories in Gilded Frames: Dutch Seventeenth-century Paintings with Biblical and Mythological Subjects (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2016).
","citation":"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Lyckle de Vries, Stories in Gilded Frames: Dutch Seventeenth-century Paintings with Biblical and Mythological Subjects (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2016).
, p. 54, fig. 28 (illus.)","date":0,"id":6867,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/929592725"},{"boilertext":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007)","citation":"Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 185 (illus.)","date":2007,"id":474,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/191864564"},{"boilertext":"George Roethlisberger, \"The Four Evangelists by Abraham Bloemaert,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 51, no. 1 (1992): p. 2–14.","citation":"George Roethlisberger, \"The Four Evangelists by Abraham Bloemaert,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 51, no. 1 (1992): p. 2–14., p. 2, fig. 1","date":1992,"id":3083,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774709"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1991,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 51, no. 1 (1992): p. 22-78.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1991,\" Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 51, no. 1 (1992): p. 22-78., p. 22 (illus.)","date":1992,"id":3085,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774711"},{"boilertext":"Lisbeth M. Helmus and Gero Seelig, eds., The Bloemaert effect: colour and composition in the Golden Age, (Petersberg, Germany: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2011).","citation":"Lisbeth M. Helmus and Gero Seelig, eds., The Bloemaert effect: colour and composition in the Golden Age, (Petersberg, Germany: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2011)., p. 104-105 (illus.), 191; cat. no. 28","date":2011,"id":1442,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/767578267"},{"boilertext":"Jane Turner, Rembrandt’s world: Dutch drawings from the Clement C. Moore collection, (New York: Morgan Library & Museum, 2012).","citation":"Jane Turner, Rembrandt’s world: Dutch drawings from the Clement C. Moore collection, (New York: Morgan Library & Museum, 2012)., additional use on an exhibition label","date":2012,"id":1451,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/761196066"}],"exhibitions":[{"exhibitionid":961,"citation":"An Educated Eye: The Princeton University Art Museum Collection (Friday, February 22, 2008 - Sunday, June 15, 2008)","isvirtual":true,"begindate":"2008-02-22","enddate":"2008-06-15","uri":"https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/961"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Europe, Netherlands","code":"Place made","continent":"Europe","subcontinent":null,"country":null,"region":"Netherlands","state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/maps/google_52.25_5.75.html","location":{"lat":"","lon":""}}],"terms":[{"id":2053145,"term":"oil paintings","aatid":300033799,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2097045,"term":"Christianity","aatid":300073711,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2125777,"term":"books","aatid":300028051,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2031635,"term":"Dutch","aatid":300111175,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2133994,"term":"eagles","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2127397,"term":"lions","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2090911,"term":"evangelists","aatid":300025762,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171709,"term":"ox","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171831,"term":"angels","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2141222,"term":"mahlsticks","aatid":300022622,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2141244,"term":"palettes","aatid":300022625,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171865,"term":"John the Evangelist","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171870,"term":"Matthew","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171871,"term":"Mark","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171872,"term":"Luke","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2052977,"term":"paintings","aatid":300033618,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2095964,"term":"religious art","aatid":300248179,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088270,"term":"men","aatid":300025928,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2171344,"term":"canvas","aatid":null,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2167780,"term":"oil paint","aatid":300015050,"termtype":"Materials"}],"classifications":[{"id":2052977,"classification":"paintings"},{"id":2053145,"classification":"oil paintings"}],"cultures":[],"cultureterms":[{"id":2031635,"culture":"Dutch"}],"periods":[],"periodterms":[],"attribute_groups":[{"id":2199321,"term":"European Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199338,"term":"Nazi-era gaps","termtype":"Provenance & Cultural Heritage"}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"frame","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"212.40"},{"element":"frame","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"260.66"},{"element":"frame","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"13.33"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"179.00"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"227.30"}],"packages":[{"packageid":210962,"name":"Z_JS European On View 10 years"},{"packageid":182999,"name":"image_descriptions_eps_painitings"},{"packageid":181962,"name":"web_2020_SM"},{"packageid":185949,"name":"CRS_2020_BRInternTalk"},{"packageid":194458,"name":"PUAM_European Treasures"},{"packageid":246533,"name":"EPS Provenance Nazi-era gaps"},{"packageid":167646,"name":"web_highlights"},{"packageid":197269,"name":"web_highlights -revised 2021"},{"packageid":182966,"name":"Tour_Highlights"},{"packageid":276252,"name":"Nazi Era Sept 2025 list for web"},{"packageid":210960,"name":"Z_JS European Anchors"},{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"}],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/PUAMSTU2038968"],"displaymaker":"Abraham Bloemaert, 1566–1651; born Gorinchem, Netherlands; died Utrecht, Netherlands","displayculture":null,"displayperiod":null,"caption":"Abraham Bloemaert (1566–1651; born Gorinchem, Netherlands; died Utrecht, Netherlands), The Four Evangelists, ca. 1612–15. 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