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The Painting
The Procession to Calvary
The Procession to Calvary at Nostell Priory is signed and dated P. BRVEGEL/1602. It is one of only 5 versions of this painting that are signed and dated by Pieter Brueghel the Younger. The earliest, of 1599, has been in the Uffizi in Florence since before 1686. The painting at Nostell Priory is the second in the series. The other signed and dated works are from 1603, 1606 and 1607. Other, undated versions, are the product of his studio. Art historian, George Marlier, who wrote the definitive book devoted to the artist, thought that the Nostell Priory version of ‘The Procession to Calvary’ was “perhaps the most beautiful” painting in the series and that it alone “justified the inclusion of Pieter Brueghel the Younger among the masters of Flemish painting.”
The painting depicts Christ, carrying his Cross, on the way to his Crucifixion at the top right of the painting. The biblical narrative is set in a contemporary Flemish town and landscape but with the inclusion of a fanciful depiction of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the right foreground are the women who followed Christ, weeping as he goes to his death. Ahead of Christ, in a cart, are the Good Thief and the Bad Thief, who were crucified either side of him. The dark sky above Calvary at the top right is symbolic of the fate which awaits Christ and a foretaste of the “darkness over the land, from the Sixth hour unto the ninth hour”, after Christ was hoisted on the Cross (Matthew xxvii. 45).
The Artist
Pieter Brueghel the Younger
Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564/65-1637/38) was the eldest son of the Brussels-based artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c.1525-1569). After the death of his parents he and his brother, later known as Jan 'Velvet' Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625), were raised by their grandmother Mayken Verhulst (c. 1520-1600), an artist herself and possibly their first teacher. Pieter the Younger may also have studied with the landscape painter Gillis III van Coninxloo (1544-1607) before setting up as an independent master in Antwerp, in modern-day Belgium.
The Place
Nostell Priory and the Chattels
Nostell Priory, the National Trust property, is unique amongst the houses of West Yorkshire in having most of its historic collections intact, dating back to the 18th century, and including objects which date back to before the building of the present house, e.g. the iconic copy of Holbein’s destroyed portrait of Sir Thomas More and his Family, by Rowland Lockey, which has been at the house since c. 1730.
All of the items that are on public display at Nostell Priory that the Trust does not own are now being sold for a total of £5.1 million. The Procession to Calvary is the most important part of that collection – and it is for that work that we need to raise £2.7 million by Christmas.
The pictures at Nostell Priory were largely collected in the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection probably totalled over 200 paintings by 1785, about half of which had been inherited from the family of the 5th Baronet’s Swiss wife in 1781. Some of the outstanding paintings still in the collection date from this period. Most notable is the Brueghel, but also important are pictures by William Hogarth and Hugh Douglas Hamilton. From 1817, Charles Winn, owner of Nostell Priory for over 50 years, made major additions, including many of the 158 pictures that the Trust is now trying to acquire as part of the chattels. It has always been very important to the National Trust to keep interiors complete and collections whole and since 1954, when the Trust was given the house and gardens, it has been able to acquire a number of important and iconic objects at Nostell.
On a local level, it is important to keep this collection within Yorkshire. Nostell Priory sits within an area that suffers from low income and high unemployment, meaning that some local people may not have the budget or resources to go to London, or other major cities, to see other significant works of art. Nostell Priory is akin to a local ‘national gallery’. Nostell Priory welcomes rising numbers of family visitors and local schools, who all take an interest in the portraits, porcelain and furniture that are on display, and who enjoy authentic interiors, decorated and created by many generations of one Yorkshire family.
In 2009, over 100,000 people visited Nostell Priory and its parkland and over 40,000 people visited the house and enjoyed its collections. The Brueghel is one of the ‘star’ paintings, and very popular with visitors of all ages. Adults enjoy its aesthetic beauty and skilful detail, whilst children enjoy the imagery and story it contains.
