The Interior of a Church: the Woman taken in Adultery Signed and dated 1618
Oil on panel | 39.6 x 54.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405505
-
The vanishing point in this painting is marked by a pin-hole; this held a piece of string which helped to draw all the lines converging on this point (the so-called ‘orthogonals’). Works of this kind were called ‘perspectives’ in the seventeenth century; it is possible to imagine original viewers examining them from exactly the right position (with one eye) to get the full three-dimensional effect. It is clear even to the naked eye that the architecture was painted first and the figures added over the top of a complete interior. This does not mean that the subject is irrelevant: the story of the ‘Woman taken in Adultery’ involves Christ writing with his finger in the dust of the floor, an action which ‘brings in’ the architecture.
Provenance
Given by Sir John Suckling to Charles I, whose brand appears on the back of the panel
-
Creator(s)
Previously attributed to (artist)(nationality)Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
39.6 x 54.6 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
51.5 x 66.5 x 4.1 cm (frame, external)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
The woman taken in adultery