Diana and Her Nymphs Departing for the Hunt

Provenance

Data published online by Cleveland Museum of Art and formatted at Carnegie Museum of Art:

the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens [, ca. 1615. Wouter Valckenier [1705–1784] and family, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, until 1784; Elisabeth Hooft [ca. 1711–1796], Amsterdam, the Netherlands, via widowhood, 1784; Hooft estate sale, C. Balsius, et. Al., Amsterdam, August 31, 1796 (no. 32) [1]; purchased by Van Coevorden. Michael Bryan [1757–1821], London [2]; purchased by Sir Simon Haughton Clarke, 9th Baronet Clarke [1764–1832], Oakhill, Hertfordshire, from “Bryan Sale,” Coxe, Burrel & Foster, London, May 17, 1798 (no. 42) [3]; Sir Simon Haughton Clarke and George Hibbert [1757–1837], probably 1798 until 1802 [4]; purchased by Michael Bryan from “Clarke/Hibbert sale,”Christie's, London, May 14–15, 1802 (no. 71) [5]. Sale, Greenwood & Co., London, Feb. 19, 1803 (no. 52) [6]; probably sold to Sir Simon H. Clarke, 10th Baronet Clarke [1818–1849], Oakhill, Hertfordshire, England; “Clarke sale,” Christies, London, May 8–9, 1840 (no. 520); purchased by C. Nieuwenhuys, May 1840; purchased by Thomas Baring, Esq. [1799–1873], London, by 1857 [7]; by descent to Thomas Baring’s nephew, Thomas George Baring, First Earl of Northbrook [1826–1904], 1873; purchased by Mayer Alphonse de Rothschild [1827–1905], Ferrières, France, probably by 1889 [8]; by descent to Mayer Alphonse de Rothschild’s son, Édouard de Rothschild [1868–1949], 1905; Édouard and Germaine de Rothschild [1905–1949], via marriage, 1905 [9]; confiscated by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, September 1940 [10]; appropriated by Hermann Goering [1893–1946], probably Carinhall, Brandenburg, in 1945 [11]; appropriated by the Allies, 1945; restituted to Édouard and Germaine de Rothschild [1905–1949], Chantilly, France, 1959; sold to Rosenberg & Stiebel through Robert Leclerc, 1959 [12]; purchased by the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 1959.

Notes:
[1]. This buyer's identity is unknown. The name is written next to the painting in the catalogue of the Hooft sale and appears to read "van Coevorden." He may have been the agent for Michael Bryan.
[2]. The 1798 sale catalogue of Bryan's collection says that Bryan, an art historian, dealer, and connoisseur, purchased the painting from a descendant of the Valckenier family. If a "van Coevorden" indeed purchased the painting from Elisabeth Hooft's estate sale, this would suggest that van Coevorden was a descendent of the Valckenier family; however, a connection between them has yet to be identified. Another possibility is that Bryan was the buyer at the Hooft sale and van Coevorden acted as his agent.
[3]. According to the Getty Provenance Index, this painting may have been bought in; however, William Buchanan's Memoirs of Painting (1924) says that the painting sold to "Sir S. Clarke." Clarke indeed most likely purchased the painting at the 1798 sale, as it makes sense in terms of timing, and furthermore, his name does follow this sale in the provenance in the case of at least one other painting (Salvator Rosa's Pythagoras Emerging from the Underworld, currently in the Kimbell Art Museum).
[4]. Clarke and Hibbert were business associates who purchased a number of paintings together.
[5]. There are suggestions both in the museum's files and in the provenance of another Rubens painting, The Rape of the Sabine Women, also sold in the 1803 sale and currently in the National Gallery, London, that the consignor in the 1803 sale was an individual by the name of "Birch," identified by Gregory Martin in his 1970 catalogue of the Flemish paintings in the National Gallery as Charles Birch, a dealer at the time (p. 116). However, it seems probable that "Birch" is in fact "Bryan," and perhaps the result of a misreading of the handwritten notation in the 1802 sale catalogue. If Bryan was indeed the consignor, this would account for the small provenance gap from 1802–1803, and would, of course, make sense chronologically, given that Bryan purchased the painting at the 1802 sale. Evidence situating the Sabine Women in Bryan's possession prior to 1803 would provide confirmation that "Birch" is in fact "Bryan," and that the former was an error on the part of the author of the catalogue notation. Of course, it is also possible that after purchasing the painting from Christie's in 1802, Bryan transferred the painting to Birch, who then put it up for auction at the 1803 Greenwood sale.
[6]. The Rubens painting is not printed in the Greenwood sale catalogue, but rather is handwritten on page 3 of the Courtauld copy of the 1803 sale, along with Rubens's Rape of the Sabine Women. "Clarke" is written in as the buyer for the CMA painting; "Angerstein" for the Sabine Women. Written above both paintings is the notation: ""Mr.___d that Mr. Birch [sic?] sold 2 Picts. by Rubens." See note 6 for additional information.
[7]. Some versions of this provenance say the painting was owned by Alexander Baring rather than Thomas Baring, perhaps due to the inclusion in Treasures of Art in Great Britain (1854) of a Rubens Diana and Nymphs overtaking a stag (vol. II, p. 102), in the collection of Alexander Baring and formerly with Joseph Bonaparte. Both the provenance and the description of this painting make it clear, however, that it is not the CMA painting. Furthermore, several sources state that Thomas George Baring inherited the painting from his uncle: the Baring genealogy (http://www.baringarchive.org.uk/barings_people/baring_family_genealogy/) shows that his uncle was Thomas Baring, not Alexander. Thus, it can be concluded that the CMA painting was not in Alexander’s collection (by 1854 or otherwise), but rather was sold by Nieuwenhuys to Thomas Baring.
[8]. The Descriptive Catalogue of the collection of pictures belonging to the Earl of Northbrook does not include this painting, which indicates Baring had sold it to Rothschild by its publication in 1889. This is consistent with Ludwig Burchard's letter of Nov. 19, 1958, which notes that Rothschild purchased the painting from Baring ca. 1890. The Northbrook catalogue does contain several other Rubens paintings that, like the CMA painting, were sold by C. Nieuwenhuys to Thomas Baring, and then passed to Thomas George Baring.
[9]. By 1940, Édouard de Rothschild had hidden much of his collection at the family’s Chateau de Reux in Calvados (French Documents — Misc. Subject Files. Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (The Roberts Commission), 1943–1946. Record Group 239. National Archives Identifier 1537311. M1944, Roll 86, page 216. Fold3.com, http://www.fold3.com/image/273365234/, retrieved January 26, 2015).
[10]. The ERR located Rothschild's hidden collection at the Chateau de Reux and confiscated it, including the Rubens, in September 1940, as is recorded in the Rothschild claim file (F185, Rothschild, Édouard Baron de. Cultural Property Claim Applications. Records of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Section of the Reparations and Restitution Branch, OMGUS, 1945–1951, Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 1571289. M1949, Roll 13, page 5. Fold3.com, http://www.fold3.com/image/292890009/, retrieved January 26, 2015). After its confiscation, the painting was taken to the Jeu de Paume in Paris (ERR Card No. R 90)
[11]. On October 20, 1942, Goering selected works at the Jeu de Paume for his personal collection. This painting is No. 163 (as “Diana mit Gefolge") on the Liste der für die Sammlung des Reichsmarschalls Hermann Göring abgegebenen Kunstgegenstände, Oct. 20, 1942 (Liste der für die Sammlung des Reichsmarschalls Hermann Göring abgegebenen Kunstgegenstände October 20, 1942. Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR): Consolidated Interrogation Report (CIR) No. 2 (Attachments And Index). Restitution Research Records. Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 3725274. M1946, Roll 122, page 17. Fold3.com, http://www.fold3.com/image/114/269975002/, retrieved July 15, 2013). Throughout the war, Goering kept the selected works in his possession at his two residences, Carinhall and Kurfürst, but in February, March, and April of 1945, he sent them away for safekeeping: two shipments went to a castle in Veldenstein – the Rubens appears as No. 404, “Diana mit Gefährtinnen,” on the list of Goering’s paintings from Veldenstein (Bilder aus Kurfürst nach Veldenstein 1945–1950. Göring, Hermann: Paintings from Veldenstein. Restitution Research Records. Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 3725274. M1946, Roll 127, page 21. Fold3.com, http://www.fold3.com/image/114/270007303/, retrieved July 15, 2013). Then, as the Allies approached Veldenstein on April 7, Goering ordered all of the art objects removed; they were packed into freight cars and sent to Berchtesgaden three days later (Annex 1: The Looting of the Göring Train 1945–1950. Berchtesgaden: Göring Train. Restitution Research Records. Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group 260. National Archives Identifier 3725274. M1946, Roll 118, page 33–38. Fold3.com, http://www.fold3.com/image/#270038349/, retrieved July 15, 2013), where they would be found by the Allies.
[12]. Leclerc was a banker for various members of the Rothschild family.