Old Master Paintings & Spanish Colonial Art
Lot 187:
Oil on canvas, attached studio dossier by D. José Arnáiz. Signed DT Framed measurements: 100 x 76 cm. Canvas measures: 82 x 58 cm. Certificate attached. According to the Gospels, Roman soldiers placed it on Jesus during his passion. It had a double function: to humiliate Jesus (crowning him king of the Jews, in a mocking tone) and, in turn, to cause him harm and pain. The crown became a highly prized heirloom, sought after by all European kings for centuries. There are references to his presence in Jerusalem from the 5th century (with the letters of Paulinus of Nola). Its location in the Basilica of Sion in 570 is described. In the 7th century it was transferred to Constantinople due to the Persian invasions. In the 10th century, due to an economic crisis in the empire, it passed into the hands of Venetian moneylenders, until it was acquired by the French monarchy. Louis IX of France built the Sainte Chapelle in the 13th century as a place of veneration for the relic. During the French Revolution they passed to the National Library of France. In 1801, the Concordat with the Catholic Church determined that the crown was the property of the Church, passing to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Currently, the crown is offered for public veneration on the first Friday of the month and on Good Friday. On April 15, 2019, the crown of thorns was saved from a fire that consumed much of Notre Dame Cathedral, as was the robe of Saint Louis. Reference bibliography: “David Teniers the Younger”, cat. exp., Ghent, Snoeck-Ducaju and Zoon, 1991; Rosenberg, Adolf, Teniers der Jüngere, Bielefeld, Velhagen, and Klasing, 1895; “David Teniers, Jan Brueghel and the cabinets of paintings”, cat. experience,
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