The Real Presence in the Holy Sacrament (Disputa).

Drawing, brown wash over black chalk, 40 x 51,5 cm, laid paper, unsigned (laid down on cardb. support, vague central fold, two repaired tears at lower left, repaired tear (3 cm) at upper edge, sm. def. at lower right).

Under passe-partout and frame.

The Dutch painter Jan De Bisschop (1628-1671) was known to have made several drawings after paintings and oil sketches by Rubens, between 1660 and 1670. This magnificent sepia drawing was made after Rubens' triptych in the church of St Paul in Antwerp, depicting the Church Fathers discussing the meaning of the Holy Sacrament, an issue of great importance during the Counter-Reformation in the Southern Low Countries. There are two versions of this drawing, one being in the Albertina in Vienna (inv. 15103) of a slightly smaller size, and the present sheet. The drawing has been part of the collection of the renowned Rubens scholar Ludwig Burchard and was last recorded in 1978, in the collection of Mr. John P. Hardy in London. The RKD database mentions the present wherabouts of the sheet as unkown.
Ref. https://rkd.nl/explore/images/252262. - Corpus Rubenianum, VIII, no. 56a, copy 1. - J.G. van Gelder, Rubens Marginalia I, The Burlington Magazine 120 (1978), p. 456.
Prov. Ludwich Burchard (1886-1960). - G. de Leval. (letter dated 7/1/1939 on verso of frame). - John P. Hardy.