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| 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).
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| Peter Paul Rubens Prometheus cartoon for a painting by Jan Cossiers 1636-37 Prado |
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| Peter Paul Rubens Cephalus & Procris cartoon for a painting by Peeter Symons 1636-37 Prado |
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| Peter Paul Rubens Persecution of the Harpies cartoon for a painting by Erasmus Quelinus II 1636-37 Prado |
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| Peter Paul Rubens Abduction of Europa cartoon for painting by Erasmus Quelinus II 1636-37 Prado |
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| Peter Paul Rubens Apollo & Python cartoon for a painting by Cornelis de Vos 1636-37 Prado |
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| 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.
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| Peter Paul Rubens Achilles Concealed Among the Women cartoon for tapestry c. 1630 Prado |
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| 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.