"Rubens (Peter Paul), Antwerp. 1577-1640. (Oil, Fine Can., on wood. 24 x 36.) The crucifixion; treated in his usual forcible, naturalistic manner. Christ hangs by his arms, and we feel the painful tension of the limbs. A dog is knawing a bone at the foot of the cross. The Madonna and Magdalen are un-ideal, coarse women, vulgar and cold in their grief. There is no religious sentiment in the picture; but the horses, soldiers, the naked man holding up the sponge on a reed to the Saviour, the lurid gloom of the atmosphere, the sweeping, emphatic touch, and thin, lucid coloring, combine in this small picture the most prominent traits of this vigorous, courtly painter." [P. 26.]
Descriptive Catalogue of the Paintings now on exhibition at the Institute of Fine Arts, 625 Broadway, comprising the celebrated Pictures of the well-known Dusseldorf Gallery, with several interesting additions, and the unique Jarves Collection of Old Masters. New York: John Russell, Printer, No. 79 John Street. 1861.