Currently not on view

The Brazen Serpent

Maarten van Heemskerck, 1498–1574; born Heemskerck, Netherlands; died Haarlem, Netherlands
y1990-44
The story of the Brazen Serpent is recounted in Numbers 21:4–9. While wandering in the desert, the Israelites were saved from a host of divinely sent poisonous serpents. God advised Moses to create “a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole” so the afflicted could look upon it and be cured. The visual and typological parallels between the image and that of the crucified Christ made this an ideal subject for the outer wings of a Crucifixion altarpiece. Heemskerck’s Brazen Serpent once consisted of two separate panels covering a colorful Crucifixion panel now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. The work’s limited chromatic palette, a technique known as grisaille, follows the widespread Netherlandish practice of covering vibrant inner panels with sober wing panels. The painting’s “sculptural” look also reflects Heemskerck’s interest in ancient works, such as the Laocoön, that he observed during his formative residence in Rome from 1532 to 1537.
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Information

Object Number
y1990-44
Maker
Maarten van Heemskerck
Medium
Oil on wood panel, transferred to canvas
Dates

1549

Dimensions
101.3 × 67.3 cm (39 7/8 × 26 1/2 in.) frame: 120.3 × 87.3 × 7 cm (47 3/8 × 34 3/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, gift of the Friends of The Princeton University Art Museum on the occasion of Allen Rosenbaum's tenth anniversary as director
Inscription
Signed and dated bottom left: Martinus Heemskerck inventor 1549
Type
oil paintings, paintings
Subject
nudes, grisaille, snakes, figures (representations), bible stories, crosses (objects)
Materials
canvas, oil paint

1811 acquired for Alexander I of Russia through Vivant Denon; sold R. Lepke, Berlin, 3/5/1907, no. 17; Adolph Fröschels, Berlin, 1909; sold Paul Brandt, Amsterdam, 11/5/68, no. 72; sold Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 11/10/71, no. 78; [David M. Koetser Gallery, Zurich, 1972]; Private Collection, The Netherlands; [Bob P. Haboldt & Co., New York]; formerly L.1989.67

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7012163

Leon Preibisz, <em>Martin van Heemskerck: ein beitrag zur geschichte des Romanismus in der Niederländischen Malerei des XVI-Jahrhunderts</em>, (Leipzig: Klinkhardt und Biermann, 1911)., p. 70, no. 8

5082 1911
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3614681

Max J. Friedländer, <em>Die altniederländische Malerei</em>, (Berlin: P. Cassirer, 1924-1937)., Vol. 13: p. 157, no. 188

4102 1924
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/629877

Godefridus Joannes Hoogewerff, <em>De noord-nederlandsche schilderkunst</em>, (’s-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1936-47)., Vol. 4: p. 326; Vol. 5: p. 156

5083 1936
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/888256202

Nikolaj N. Nikulin, "Rekonstrukcija tripticha "Raspjatie" Martina fan Chemskerka", <em>Soobshchenii︠a︡ Gosudarstvennogo Ėrmitazha (Reports of the State Hermitage Museum)</em> 24 (1963): p. 14-16., p. 16 (illus.); p. 48: english summary

5084 1963
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/643597650

<p>Max J. Friedländer, <em>Early Netherlandish painting</em>, (Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff; Brussels: Éditions de la Connaissance, 1967-).</p>, Vol. 13: pl. 95

4355 1967
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7866235

Rainald Grosshans, <em>Maerten van Heemskerck: die Gemälde</em>, (Berlin: Boettcher, 1980)., p. 189-190, no. 68; pl. 99

5085 1980
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/852128036

Kuznet︠s︡ov, I︠U︡. (I︠U︡riĭ), <em>Dutch painting in Soviet museums</em>, (New York: H.N. Abrams; Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1982)., Text for pl. 12-14

5086 1982
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16315884

<em>Kunst voor de beeldenstorm: Noordnederlandse kunst 1525-1580</em>, (Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum; 's-Gravenhage: Staatsuitgeverij, 1986)., no. 138; p. 256-257 (illus.)

5079 1986
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16145476

<p>Werner Hofmann, <em>Zauber der Medusa: europäische Manierismen</em>, (Wien: Löcker, 1987).</p>, no. 30; p. 156; p. 127 (illus.)

5080 1987
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/312836208

<em>Old master paintings and drawings: the first five years: [exhibition December 6-December 24, 1988, Bob P. Haboldt &amp; Co.]</em>, (New York: Bob P. Haboldt &amp; Co., 1989). , no. 4; p. 34-35; p. 35 (illus.)

5081 1989
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/15490038

Nikulin, Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich,<em> Netherlandish painting, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries</em>, (Florence: Giunti, 1989)., p. 110-112, no. 52

5088 1989
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774677

Jefferson C. Harrison, ""The Brazen Serpent" by Maarten van Heemskerck: aspects of its style and meaning," <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </em>49, no. 1 (1990): p. 16–29., p. 16, fig. 1

3096 1990
https://www.jstor.org/stable/884504

"Calendar", <em>Burlington magazine</em> 132, no. 1051 (Oct., 1990): p. 747-751., p. 751, fig. 94

5090 1990
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774743

"Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1990," <em>Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University </em>50, no. 1 (1991): p. 16-69., pp. 17–18 (illus.)

1866 1991
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39041444

Helene F. Roberts, ed., <em>Encyclopedia of comparative iconography: themes depicted in works of art</em>, (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998)., Vol. 2: p. 812 (illus.)

5089 1998
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191864564

<em>Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection</em> (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), 172 (illus.)

474 2007

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