Thursday, March 3, 2016

Rubens in Spain II

Peter Paul Rubens
Death of Hyacinthus
cartoon for a painting by Jan Cossiers
1636-37
Prado

These oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) were made in Spain during the 1630s for an ambitious royal decorating project based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Each of these Rubens sketches corresponds to a completed painting by one of the Flemish assistants who accompanied him. The cartoons are now preserved at the Prado (where they generate considerably more interest nowadays than the finished works that were based on them).

Peter Paul Rubens
Prometheus
cartoon for a painting by Jan Cossiers
1636-37
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens
Cephalus & Procris
cartoon for a painting by Peeter Symons
1636-37
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens
Persecution of the Harpies
cartoon for a painting by Erasmus Quelinus II
1636-37
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens
Abduction of Europa
cartoon for painting by Erasmus Quelinus II
1636-37
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens
Apollo & Python
cartoon for a painting by Cornelis de Vos
1636-37
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens
Vertumnus & Pomona
cartoon for a painting by Jacob Jordaens
1636-37
Prado

The Flemish collaborators were established painters with independent reputations of their own. The combined prestige of Rubens and the Spanish crown were sufficient to bring them into the project as subordinates. Because of their known skills, Rubens did not need to provide more than rough indications of his intentions. By contrast, he brought the cartoons below to a higher level of finish because they were intended as models for tapestry workshops where the final product would not be supervised by the artist himself.

Peter Paul Rubens
Achilles Concealed Among the Women
cartoon for tapestry
c. 1630
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens
Triumph of the Eucharist
cartoon for tapestry
c. 1625
Prado

I am grateful for the beautiful reproductions made available by Museo del Prado.