*478 



RUBENS. 



Rubens. Venice, for the purpose of studying the works of 

 ^y^/ Titian, of Paul Veronese, and of other productions 

 which had particularly excited his notice during his 

 short visit to that city. Imbued with an admiration of 

 the rich and brilliant pictures of the Venetian school, 

 Rubens executed, on his return to Mantua, three mag- 

 nificent pictures for the church of the Jesuits, which 

 have been considered as among his finest works. De- 

 sirous of having, from such an artist, copies of the most 

 celebrated pictures at Rome, the Duke of Mantua offer- 

 ed him the means of pursuing his studies at that capi- 

 tal, and he executed the commission thus given to him 

 with singular success. 



Rubens had impressed his patron with such an opi- 

 nion of his ingenuity and talents, that in 16S5 the duke 

 sent him on an embassy to the court of Spain ; and 

 while he executed the political part of his mission with 

 ability and success, he exercised his professional talents 

 on a picture of the king of Spain, by whom he was ho- 

 noured with the most marked attention. 



After returning to Mantua, he paid a second visit to 

 Rome, where he painted three excellent pictures for 

 the palace of Santa Maria, in Valticella. At Genoa, 

 to which he next repaired, he received much employ- 

 ment. Among the pictures which he executed were 

 two for the church of the Jesuits, viz. the Crucifixion, 

 and Ignatius working a miracle. 



Having received accounts of the illness of his mo- 

 ther, he performed a rapid journey to Holland ; but he 

 was not able to reach Antwerp to soothe the last mo- 

 ments of his parent. His spirits were much affected 

 with her loss ; but as soon as he had arranged his fa- 

 mily concerns, and was about to set off for Italy, his 

 earliest patron, the Archduke Albert, and the Infan- 

 ta Isabella, induced him to remain at Antwerp. Here 

 he married his first wife Elizabeth Brants, and erected 

 a magnificent house, with a saloon, in imitation of the 

 Rotunda at Rome, which he adorned with a choice col- 

 lection of pictures, ancient statues, busts, and vases. 

 Thus elegantly established in his native land, he exe- 

 cuted many of those beautiful productions which have 

 immortalized his name; but the death of his wife, 

 after he had enjoyed her society only two years, afflicted 

 him deeply, and forced him to seek for consolation in 

 a journey to Holland. 



The high reputation which Rubens had now acquir- 

 ed, and the wealth and honours which flowed in upon 

 him with a full channel, soon excited the envy of his 

 rivals. His success was ascribed to the skill of his pu- 

 pils, to Jordaens, Van Uden, and Snyders ; and he was 

 accused by the ignorant and ill employed, of want of in- 

 vention in his art. Rubens held all these marks of 

 jealousy in the contempt which they always merit, 

 without attempting to resist them. On the contrary, 

 he. relieved the wants of those that abused him, he pro- 

 cured employment to those who envied his success, 

 and he answered the charge of poverty of invention by 

 the finest productions in every branch of his art. 



His fame had now reached the French capital, and 

 he was requested by Mary de Medicis, queen of Henry 

 IV. of France, to ornament the galleries of the palace 

 of the Luxembourg. In these paintings, which have 

 been so much admired, he has depicted in allegorical 

 designs the leading events in the life of that princess. 

 This series of compositions, crowded with figures, were 

 executed in three years, amid other numerous occupa- 

 tions. They were all painted at Antwerp, excepting 

 two which he executed at Paris in 1623, when he came 

 to arrange the whole in the gallery. 



During this visit to Paris, Rubens became acquainted 

 with the'-Duke of Buckingham, who was then on his 



way to Madrid with Prince Charles. The duke was so Rubens, 

 much struck with his talents and accomplishments, that ^~ -n. 

 he considered him well qualified to explain to the Arch- 

 duke Albert and his wife Isabella, the causes of the 

 misunderstanding which had taken place between Eng<- 

 land and Spain. In the discharge of this uuty Rubens 

 exhibited such prudence and tact, that Isabella dis- 

 patched him as envoy to the court of Madrid to pro- 

 pose terms of peace. Rubens arrived in that capital in 

 1628, and was received with much distinction by Phi- 

 lip IV. Afier performing his political mission with 

 success, Rubens was called upon to exercise his pictorial 

 talents. Philip gave Rubens a commission for five pic- 

 tures for the church of a convent of Carmelites, which 

 his minister, the Duke of Olivares, had just founded 

 at Loeches, near Madrid. Rubens speedily executed 

 these elaborate pictures in his best style. The first was 

 an allegorical representation of the triumph of the new 

 law, which was personified by religion in a triumphal 

 car, drawn by five angels, while others bore the cross ; 

 while infidelity and ignorance, under the form of slaves 

 bound in chains, followed the triumphant equipage. The 

 picture which was a companion to this, represents Mel- 

 chisedeck offering Abraham bread and the tenth of 

 his spoils. The other two pictures represent the four 

 doctors of the church and the four evangelists, with the 

 usual emblems. The king likewise engaged him to 

 paint eight large pictures for the great saloon of the 

 palace at Madrid. The subjects of the pictures are, 

 the Rape of the Sabines ; the battle between the Ro- 

 mans and Sabines ; the Bath of Diana, Perseus, and 

 Andromeda ; the Rape of Helen ; the Judgment of 

 Paris ; the Triumph of Bacchus ; and Juno, Minerva, 

 and Venus; and they are justly ranked among the best 

 of his productions. He likewise painted the martyr- 

 dom of St. Andrew for the church dedicated to that 

 apostle, and a large portrait of the king on horseback. 

 The king was so much gratified with these displays of 

 Rubens' talent, that he conferred upon him the honour 

 of knighthood, and presented him with a golden key as 

 a gentleman of his chamber. 



Upon his return to Brussels in 1629, he was dispatch- 

 ed to England by the Infanta, to sound the disposition 

 of the government on the subject of peace. As this mis- 

 sion was entirely of a private nature, Rubens conceal* 

 ed the powers of negotiating with which he was in- 

 trusted. He was received with much respect by 

 Charles, who engaged him to adorn the ceiling of the 

 banqueting house of Whitehall, upon which he painted 

 the apotheosis of king James. The king paid fre- 

 quent visits lo Rubens, when he was engaged in the 

 work; and, on one of these occasions, the artist avail- 

 ed himself of a proper opportunity of alluding to the 

 subject of a peace with Spain. Having found that the 

 English monarch was not averse to listen to the sub- 

 ject, Rubens produced his credentials ,- and some mem- 

 bers of the council having been appointed to conduct 

 the negotiation on the part of England, a peace was 

 speedily concluded. Rubens was honoured by Charles 

 with the rank of knighthood, on the 21st July 1630, 

 and he afterwards returned to Flanders, where he was 

 received with the honours so justly due to him, both as 

 a diplomatist and an artist. Here he continued to enjoy 

 his reputation, and to add to the number of his works. 

 He married his second wife Helena Forment, who was 

 a distinguished beauty, and who was said to be of great 

 use to him in the execution of his female figures. 

 When Rubens had reached the 58th year of his age, his 

 frame, naturally strong, began to give way to repeated 

 attacks of the gout, which compelled him to abandon 

 his larger undertakings, and to confine himself entirely 



