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Abraham Bloemaert

The Circumcision

1601
Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash, heightened with white opaque watercolor, over black chalk, on buff laid paper, laid down on buff laid card
27.7 × 27.6 cm (10.9 × 10.9 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In this dynamic drawing, Utrecht-based Abraham Bloemaert created a thoughtful compositional study for this scene from the early life of Christ. Bloemaert described the Virgin and the attendant figures in the foreground with expressive gestures—fingers spread and arms outstretched into space as if in an attempt to stop the circumcision taking place before them. A mass of faintly sketched figures in the background suggests how Bloemaert might have realized the composition in his next phase of execution.

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