Saturday, March 5, 2016

Rubens in Spain IV

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Sight
1617
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) collaborated with Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) on a series of five canvases representing the five senses. These were based on actual palatial interiors and gardens inhabited by the Spanish rulers of Flanders.

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Hearing
1617
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Smell
1617-18
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Taste
1618
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Touch
1617-18
Prado

A few years later, Brueghel picked new collaborators for a pair of paintings (below) recapitulating the first series. Sight & Smell found themselves combined on one canvas, with Taste, Hearing & Touch on the other. The same patrons sponsored both sets, Archduke Alberto and the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia. Their portraits (at bottom) by Rubens were also a collaboration with Brueghel, who painted landscape views of their favorite Flemish palaces as backdrops. This couple were especially eager patrons of Brueghel's work.

Jan Brueghel the Elder & Gerard Seghers & Frans Francken the Younger & Joost de Momper
Sight & Smell
ca. 1620
Prado

Jan Brueghel the Elder & Gerard Seghers & Frans Francken the Younger 
Taste, Hearing, Touch
ca. 1620
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Archduke Alberto de Austria
ca. 1615
Prado

Peter Paul Rubens & Jan Brueghel the Elder
Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia
ca. 1615
Prado

Jan Brueghel the Elder
Flemish Wedding Banquet Presided over by the Archduke & Infanta
ca.1622
Prado

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