PETER PAUL RUBENS,
HIS LIFE AND GENIUS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF

DR.^ WAAGEN,
PROFESSOR OF THE FINE ARTS AND DDiECTOR OF THE ROYAL
'GALLERY AT BERLIN, AUTHOR OF "ART AND ARTISTS IN ENGLAND."

ROBERT R. NOEL, ESQ.

EDITED BY MRS. JAMESON.

LONDON :
SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET.
JMDCCCXL.

LONDON :
IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS,
SAVOY-STREET, STRAND.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
THE LORD FRANCIS EGERTON,
ffifjig Cvanslation OF
DR. WAAGEN'S ESSAY
OX
THE LIFE AND GENIUS OF RUBENS
IS VERY RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED.

PREFACE
BY THE EDITOR.

The Author of the following Essay, Dr. Waagen of
Berlin, is already favourably known in this country by
his work on " Art and Artists in England." In
Germany he has the highest reputation, not only as a
learned virtuoso, skilled in technical connoisseurship,
but as an accomplished scholar, and an enlightened
and philosophical critic on all subjects connected with
art. The Essay on Rubens appeared originaUy in Von
Raumer's " Historisches Taschenbuch," for 1833, under
the title "Ueber den Maler, Petrus Paulus Rubens;" but
Dr. Waaeen has since made considerable manuscript

VI PREFACE.
emendations and additions, which have been incor
porated with the text, and it is now published for the
first time in an enlarged and corrected form. Dr.
Waagen's visjt to 'England enabled him to add a
variety of criticisms on celebrated pictures now in
this country, which will be especially interesting to
the English reader. The translation will be found
most faithful to the sense and spirit of the original.
The Editor has ventured to add a few notes of no
value whatever to the artist or the connoisseur, but
not perhaps without interest and amusement for the
mere amateur. Some pictures have been added to the
specimens noticed in the text, always keeping in view
that the object of the work was to give a catalogue of
the pictures of Rubens, only so far as they illustrated
certain general principles.
Neither our English artists nor our English public
are as yet accustomed to that many-sided and elevated
spirit in criticism with which the Germans have long
been familiar : we have among us good judges, excel
lent artists ; and if not richer in the possession of
renowned works of art than our continental neigh
bours, it is our peculiar advantage as a people, that

PREFACE. Vll
such works are more generally diffused through the
country and among individuals, than in any other Euro
pean state. Yet what is the general feeling for art
in this country ? What shall be said of that torrent
of shallow conventional verbiage which is poured upon
us from day to day and from year to year, and which
calls itself criticism ? True, there are worthy excep
tions to this sweeping censure :* but, on the whole,
the present state of criticism and patronage in this
country, the one being dispensed by newspapers, the
other by booksellers, may be pronounced fatal to the
diffusion of any high and general principles in art, or
in the taste for art. To know what a picture repre
sents, and with what degree of propriety and success
it is represented, may be sufficient critical skill for the
consideration of nine-tenths of the pictures which
yearly cover the walls of our Academy ; but to enable
us to appreciate the creations of genius, and to reap
all the pleasure and improvement which art can
bestow, we must go far higher and far deeper.
Dr. Waagen begins by repudiating the common
* The critiques on art, for instance, which appear from time to time in
the Athenaeum, are written in a finer spirit than is usual.

Vlll PREFACE
mode of considering a work of art as " the chance
product of certain arbitrary circumstances, rather than
the faithful and striking expression of the individual
mind which produced it :" in other words, he sends us
to study and recognise in the works of the painter the
impress of the nature which God gave him, and to
seek in his nature the solution of those peculiar and,
at first, unaccountable characteristics, expressed in the
conception and execution of his works. What we call
the style of a painter is not merely the manner in
which he has executed with his pencil certain subjects,
but the soul of the man made sensible to the reflect
ing and philosophical observer in the product of his
hand. To illustrate this grand and fundamental principle
of aesthetic criticism, Dr. Waagen has chosen " Ru
bens, his Life and Genius:" and could not, as it
seems to me, have made a happier choice of a subject
for this especial purpose; for although, to the con-)
templative mind and eye, the individuality of every/
great and original genius in art is manifested in his
^works, in none is this more conspicuous than in Ru
bens ; in none is the principle so capable of intelligible

PREFACE.

and popular illustration. His pictures are well
known, widely scattered, easily referred to in galleries
or engravings, and in' general easily comprehended ;
while they exhibit in every part the stamp of his own
individual mind and temperament in a manner more
decided, and, if I may say so, in one sense of the
word, more artless, than in any other instance that
could have been selected.
People begin to doubt — as indeed they well may
doubt ! — whether Sir Joshua Reynolds could have
been in earnest when, lecturing in his place as
President of the Royal Academy, he assured his
auditors that any one among them might become a
great artist, if he chose, by dint of study, labour, per
severance, and certain rules of art. Truly, a " com
fortable doctrine, and much may be said of it !" — also
against it : for by what process, academic or other,
shall we bestow genius ? and without genius what is
the artist ? Of the depravation and perversion of
o-enius we hear enough ; of its sins and of its sorrows.
A dangerous gift it is, but also a divine gift, for which
there can be no substitute. Let us not try to per
suade the young into foolish mistakes on this point,

PREFACE.

nor, for purposes miscalled moral or useful, tamper
with the essential truth of things. Let the pupil be
told, for his encouragement, of the marvels which
study and labour can do : let him also learn, for his
guidance and warning, what they cannot do. Let us,
once for all, take Dr. Johnson's advice, and " clear
our minds of cant," artistic as well as moral and
conventional ; and let the world know, (what indeed
it does know, though it tries to believe otherwise,)
that not the best good-will, with all aids and appli
ances, and sixteen hours a day of labour to boot, will
suffice to make Michel Angelos and Titians and
Rubenses ; — that for them we must go to God and
nature, and be thankful when, from age to age, such
are vouchsafed to us.
r Genius being there, inborn and heaven-bestowed,
education may indeed develope it ; circumstances may
determine the form, and physical temperament give .
the colour to its manifestations ; but if there be the
inborn original power, the spirit of the man will be the
spirit of his works.
Hence Dr. Waagen, in this Essay, begins by a
sketch of the life of Rubens, and the circumstances
in which he was called upon to think and act, as

PREFACE.

illustrative of his character ; then he proceeds to
consider his character as explanatory of his style of
art ; and, lastly, his pictures classed under different
heads — scriptural, historical, and poetical subjects ;
tableaux de genre ; animal painting ; landscapes ; por
traits ; as all illustrating in their various styles the
principal characteristics ofthe man's individual mind.
With regard to Rubens there may exist a difference
of taste, but there cannot, I conceive, be two opinions.
The degree of pleasure we take in his works may
depend more or less on our sympathy with and com
prehension of the man, as a man : but assuredly every
cultivated judgment, formed on just principles of art,
must, consistently with such principles, pronounce
Rubens one of the greatest painters in the world.
We could entertain no very exalted idea of the taste
of one who could prefer Rubens to Raffaelle, but we
should feel inclined to compassionate those who could
not understand and appreciate Rubens. Pleasure,
and pleasure of a most vivid kind, is necessarily shut
out from such a mind.
To venture to judge Rubens, we ought to have seen

XU PREFACE.
many of his pictures. His defects may be acknow
ledged once for all ; they are, in all senses, gross, open,
palpable. His florid colour, dazzling and garish in
its indiscriminate excess ; his exaggerated, redundant
forms ; his coarse allegories ; his historical impro
prieties ; his vulgar and prosaic versions of the loftiest
and most delicate creations of poetry ; — let all these
be granted ; but this man painted that sublime
History, almost faultless in conception and in costume,
the " Decius" in the Lichtenstein Gallery.* This
man, who has been ca/Wunpoetical, and who was a born
poet, if ever there was one,— conceived that magnifi
cent epic, the Battle of the Amazons ; that divine lyric,
the Virgin Mary, trampling down Sin and the Dragon,
in the Munich Gallery — which might be styled a Pin
daric Ode in honour of the Virgin, only painted in
stead of sung; and those tenderest moral poems, the
St. Theresa pleading for the Souls in Purgatory ;f and
the little sketch of " War," in the Lichtenstein Gal
lery, where a woman sits desolate on the black wide
heath, with dead bodies and implements of war heaped
* See p. 64 of this Essay.
t For a description of this picture, see " Visits and Sketches at Home
and Abroad," vol. i. p. 253, 3rd edition.

PREFACE. Xlll
in shadowy masses around her ; while, just seen against
the lurid streak of light left by the setting sun, the
battle rages in the far distance. In both these pictures,
the moral and the sentiment are so exquisitely pure
and true, and conveyed to the mind and to the heart
with such comprehensive and immediate effect, that
they might be compared to some of the sonnets of
Filicaja. Look but at the thirteen hundred pictures,
all the product of his own vehement and abounding
fancy ; in great part the work of his own right hand.
In these multifarious creations, embracing almost every
aspect of life and nature, what amazing versatility of
power as displayed in the conception of his subjects, —
what fertility of invention in their various treatment !
What ardent, breathing, blooming life, — what pomp
and potency of colour and light, have been poured forth
on his canvass ! If he painted heavy forms, has he not
o-iven them souls ? — and animated them with all his
own exuberance of vitality and volition? Whatever
his personages enact, they do with all the earnestness
of the soul which conceived, and all the energy of the
hand which formed them. Dr. Waagen dwells on the
dramatic power of Rubens as the first and grand cha-
I racteristic of his genius ; and who ever excelled him in

PREFACE,

telling a story ? in connecting, by sympathetic action
or passion, his most complicate groups, and with them,
in spirit, the fascinated spectator ? And though thus
dramatic in the strongest sense, yet he is so without
approaching the verge of what we call theatrical. With
all his flaunting luxuriance of colour, and occasional
exaggeration in form, we cannot apply that word to
him. Le Brun is theatrical : Rubens never. His sins
are those of excess of power and daring ; but he is ever
the reverse of the flimsy, the artificial, or the superfi
cial. His gay magnificence and sumptuous fancy are
always accompanied by a certain impress and assurance
of power and grandeur, which often reaches the sub
lime, even where it stops short of the ideal.
Rubens is the most popular, because the most intel
ligible, of painters. Goethe has laid down the axiom,
that " every work of art, to be consummate in its way,
must leave something for the intellect to divine." If
this be true, as I think it is, Rubens must be pro
nounced so far deficient, that in his works there is no
hidden significance of sentiment or beauty beyond
what is at once apparent to the eye. His pictures are
the perfection of the graphic, but not of the suggestive
in art.

PREFACE.

Had not Dr. Waagen confined himself within the
compass of an essay, he might have carried out his
views of causes and results much farther. For instance,
it were a curious speculation to consider how far the
genius of Rubens might have been modified by a longer
stay in Italy : how far his Flemish temperament might
have been sublimated in the perpetual presence of
Italian beauty ; — the pale, passionate, acute, and me-
lancholy beauty of the south ? That he brought some
thing of this finer spirit in conception and style from
Italy, and became more and more removed from it
every succeeding year of his life, is apparent on a com
parison of his earlier with his later pictures. Distinct
as Rubens and Titian appear in their works, they seem
to me to have been kindred minds, the very contrast
which they exhibit as artists arising, in a manner, out
of certain organic affinities in the nature ofthe two
men : they saw with the same eyes, only that which
they saw was different — as different as Flanders and
Venice. " Both were painters of flesh and blood ; by
nature poets, by conformation colourists, by tempera
ment and education magnificent spirits, scholars and
gentlemen, lovers of pleasure and of fame." The dif
ference between the glow of Rubens and the glow of

XVI . PREFACE.

.Titian is the difference between the bright northern and
the fervid southern climate ; between the dewy, roseate,
all-involving light of morning, and the soft, shadowy,
mellow splendours of evening. Let us endeavour to
contrast in our fancy, or rather our memory, certain of
their pictures : for instance, The Helena Formann of
Rubens, with Titian's La Manto in the Pitti Palace ;
the Man with the Hawk of Rubens, and Titian's
Falconer ; the Chapeau de Paille, and the Flora of
the Florentine Gallery ; can anything in art or crea
tion be more opposed ? and yet, in all alike, is it not
the intense feeling of life and individual nature which
charms and fixes us ? But the characteristic in which
Rubens did indeed surpass Titian and every other
painter in the world, except Raffaelle and Albert
Durer, was fertility of ideas. They seem to have gushed
forth on his canvass like a torrent, overpowering his
judgment, confused by their own superabundance. It
is only by understanding this superflu d'ame et de vie,
that we can account for certain anomalies in his works.
That he was a learned classical scholar, yet committed
the wildest anachronisms in manners and costume;
that he was familiar with the grace and grandeur of
the antique, and could feel and understand both, yet

PREFACE.

was guilty ofthe strangest solecisms in character and
form — arose not from incapacity or from ignorance,
but from the influence of a foregone period in art, from
which he could not shake himself wholly free, Titan
as he was; and yet more from certain strong
elements of his physical nature, beyond the mastery of
his intellect, strong as that was. Rubens understood
himself, knew what it lay in him to do, and did it con
fidently, joyously, spontaneously : and therefore it is
that with all his faults he remains ever great, original,
and consistent with himself.
Rubens, as a painter, has been compared to Dryden
as a poet : but in the structure of his mind as a man,
and in the manifestations of his genius as an artist,
might he not be compared more justly to Sir Walter
Scott ? for so he seems to have stood in his generation,
so compassed round with worship and popularity,
and abundance of wealth, fame, and friends, without
rivals or competitors ; so rich in all endowments of
body and mind that could " give the world assurance
of a man ;" " a man without fantasticalities or affecta
tions ;" with the same robust and healthy tone of mind,
the same goodness of heart, and warm domestic affec
tions, the same practical worldly sense, the same pas-
c

XV111 PREFACE.
tion for all the paraphernalia of power, royalty, chi
valry ; the same bravery of self-confidence and self-
complacency ; the same love of animals, too, and
comprehension of their instincts and habits. In their
works the same quick perception of all the various
aspects of nature, all the changes of many-coloured
life, with the same fidelity and veracity, the same
wondrous readiness of hand and careless freedom of
touch in depicting them ; the same fertility of inven
tion and facility of execution ; and the some power of
hurrying along, in accordance with the bent of their
own individuality, the popular taste, while they seemed
to be adapting themselves to it. But such parallels
are, perhaps, too fanciful and arbitrary for sober criti
cism, and certainly very far from the rational and yet
profound principles of art which distinguish the fol
lowing Essay. It is a manual for the admirers of Ru
bens, and will, I hope, enable the amateur better to
understand the character and works of a man who,
considered as an individual, seems to have been most
singularly graced by nature and by fortune ; while, con
sidered as an artist, we can but subscribe to the
judgment of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and cannot better
conclude than in his own emphatic words : " Those

PREFACE.

who do not see the extraordinary merit of this great
painter, either have a narrow conception of the variety
of art, or are led away by the affectation of admiring
nothing but what comes from the Italian school."

Dovor, January 28, 1840-

LIST OF THE
PICTURES PAINTED BY RUBENS,
WHICH ARE NOTICED IN THE COURSE OF THE FOLLOWING
ESSAY.
THE ITIOURES REFER TO THE PA«ES.

I. Subjects taken from Sacred His
tory.
The Virgin and St. Ildefonso, with por-*
traits of the Archduke Albert, and Isa
bella, (Vienna,) 19. %
The Descent from the Cross, (Antwerp,)
*
Assumption of the Virgin, (Antwerp,) 33,
51.
The Virgin instructed by St. Anne, (An
twerp,) 35. t
The St. Roch at Alost, 37, 62.
The Adoration of St. Bonaventura, with
portraits of Rubens and his Wives, (An
twerp,) 44.
The Virgin of the Escurial, (Madrid,) 55.
The Adoration of the Magi, (Madrid,) 57, 58.
The Communion of St. Francis, (Antwerp,)

Tlie Triumphs of the Catholic Church,
(Grosvenor Gallery and Louvre,/ 59.
St. Ignatius casting out Devils, (Vienna,)
61.
St. Francis Xavier performing Miracles in
the East, (Vienna,) 61.
Christ Threatening to destroy the] World,
(Brussels,) 63.
The Daughter of Herodias, (Madrid,) 63-
Fall of the Rebel Angels, (Munich,) 66.
Large Last Judgment, (Munich,) 67.
Small Last Judgment, (Munich,) 67-
The Apotheosis of the Virgin, (Munich,) 69.
The Judgment of Solomon, (Munich,) 70.
The Destruction of Sennacherib, (Munich,)
70.
Samson overpowered by the Philistines,
(Munich,) 70.
The Resurrection of Lazarus, (Berlin,) 71-

XXII

LIST OF THE PICTURES

The Crucifixion, (Antwerp,) 73.
Abraham and Melchizedac, (Cassel,) 74.
The Woman taken in Adultery, (in the
collection of Mr. Miles, of Leigh Court,)
74.
The Return from Egypt, (Blenheim,) 75.
St. Ambrosius refusing to admit the Empe
ror Theodosius into the Cathedral at Mi
lan, (Vienna,) 75.
Lot and his Daughters, (Blenheim,) 81.
Lot and his family leaving Sodom, (Blen
heim and the Louvre,) 82.
Susanna aud the Elders, (Munich,) 81.
Crucifixion of St Peter, (Cologne,) 84.
Judith and Holofernes, 85.
Martyrdom of St. Lieven, (Brussels,) 85.
Martyrdom of St. Justus, (Antwerp,) 85.
Massacre ofthe Innocents, (Munich,) 86.
Holy Families, (various,) 89-
II. Subjects taken from Profane His
tory.
The History of Marie de Medicis, in a se^
ries of twenty-one Allegorical Pictures,
(Gallery ofthe Louvre,) 24.
Allegory of Peace and War, (National
Gallery,) 32.
St. George vanquishing the Dragon, (Wind
sor,) 33.
Apotheosis of James L, (Whitehall,) 33.
Designs for eleven Triumphal Arches, in
honour of the Infant Don Ferdinand,
(Antwerp and Vienna,) 40.
Peace and War, (Pitti Palace, Florence,)
60-
The History of the Consul Decius, in a se
ries of seven great pictures, (Lichten
stein Gallery, Vienna,) 64.
The History of Constantine, in twelve
sketches, (England, various Galleries,)
65.

The Rape of the Sabines, (Madrid; Na
tional Gallery of England, collection of
LordAshburton,) 65.
The Battle of the Amazons, (Munich,) 77-
History of Achilles, in a series of eight
pictures, painted for Charles I., (collec
tion of the Duke of Infantado ; collec
tion of Lord Vernon,) 80.
Queen Thomyris, with the head of Cyrus,
(collection of Lord Darnley,) 87-
Triumph of Charles V., 88.
A Roman Charity, (Blenheim,) 75.
III. Subjects taken from the Clas
sical Mythology.
The Three Goddesses and Paris, (Madrid,)
57-
Venus Anadyomene, 57-
Latona and her Children, (Munich,) 57-
The Three Graces, 57-
Castor and Pollux carrying off the daugh
ters of Leucippus, (Munich,) 74.
The Rape of Proserpine, t Blenheim,) 76.
The Apotheosis of Hercules, (Madrid,) 79.
Prometheus carrying off the Celestial Fire,
(Madrid,) 79.
Battle of the Lapithas and the Centaurs,
(Madrid,) 80. -
Perseus and Andromeda, ( Madrid ; the
same subject at Blenheim,) 80.
Orpheus and Eurydice, (Madrid,) 80.
The Quos Ego, (Dresden,) 80,
The Fall of Phaeton, (Lichtenstein Gal
lery, Vienna,) 81.
Boreas and Orythia, 81.
Nessus and Dejanira, 81.
Apollo and Daphne, 81.
Bacchanalian Subjects, (Blenheim ; collec
tion of Sir Robert Peel ; Munich,) 83.
Fable of Progne and Tereus, (Madrid,) 85.
Festival of Venus, (Vienna,) 90.

PAINTED BV RUBfENS.

Venus and Cupid detaining Adonis, (Blen
heim,) 90.
Nymphs gathering Fruit, (Blenheim,) 91.
Diana and Calisto, (Madrid,) 91.
Repose of Diana, (Munich,) 91.
Pythagoras, 92.
The Forge ofthe Cyclops, (the Hague,) 130.
IV. Animal Painting.
Daniel in the Lions' Den, (Duke of Marl
borough's collection,) 95.
Samson slaying the Lion, 95.
David strangling a Bear, 95.
The Hunting of the Calydonian Boar, (Vi
enna and St. Petersburg,) 95.
Romulus and Remus suckled by a She-
wolf, (in the Capitol at Rome,) 95.
Lion Hunts, (Dresden. Another at Mu
nich,) 96 •
Wolf Hunt, (collections of Lord Ashburton
and Lord Methuen,) 96-
Boar Hunts, (Dresden and Munich,) 97-
Hippopotamus and Crocodile, 98.
Lions and Tigers, (Petersburg; Dresden,)

V. Tableaux -de -gen re.
Children with Fruits and Flowers, (at Mu
nich and Vienna,) 92.
Rudolph of Hapsburg and the Priest, (Ma
drid,) 104.
The Tournament, (Gallery of the Louvre,)
106.
The Village F§te, (Gallery of the Louvre,)
106.
Straggling Soldiers ill-treating Peasants,
(Munich,) 107-
The Garden of Love, (Madrid ; Dresden,)
107.
Girl with Flowers, and Conversation Piece,
Madrid,) 109. *

VI. Landscapes.
A Storm, with the Fable of Philemon and
Baucis, (Vienna,) 99.
Morning after a storm; UlysseB and Nau-
sicaa, (Florence,) 99.
Shipwreck of .-Eneas, (Mr. Hope's collec
tion,) 100.
La Prairie de Lacken, (Windsor,) L01.
Landscape after a Shower, (National Gal
lery,) 102.
Landscape, Going to Market, (Windsor,)
102.
Landscape, Snow Storm, (Windsor,) 103.
Landscape, Night, (collection of Mr. Ro
gers,) 10.3. VII. Portraits.
Rubens with his first wife, Elizabeth Brant,
seated in an Arbour, (Munich,) 20.
Portrait of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,
26.
Colossal Portrait of the Infant Don Ferdi
nand, (Vienna,) 40.
Rubens with his Second Wife and Child,
(Munich,) 110.
The Burgomaster Rockox and his Wife,
(Antwerp,) 111.
Elizabeth of Bourbon, wife of Philip IV. of
Spain, 112.
The Four Philosophers, (Florence,) 112.
Portrait of Mademoiselle Lundens, known
as the " Chapeau de Paille," (Gallery of
Sir Robert Peel,) 113.
Rubens and his Second Wife, Helena For
mally (Blenheim,) 115.
Helena Forman, attended by her Page,
(Blenheim,) 115.
Helena Forman entering her bath, (Vienna,)
116.
The two Sons of Rubens, (Lichtenstein
Gallery,) 116,

^<00**

LIS.T OF PICTURES.

Elizabeth Brant and her Child, (Munich.) i His Youngest Daughter, when an Infant,

117-
The Eldest Daughter of Rubens, (Ghent,)
117.

(Frankfort,) 117.

Additional Note.— The picture known as " Pythagoras," and described at page 92, is at
present in the possession of Dr. Stokoe, to whom it was presented by Joseph Buonaparte,
the Ex-king of Spain.

ERRATA.
Page 58, line 4, for Anadoyome read Anadyomene.
75, — 14,/or mourning read morning.
85, second line from the bottom, insert a period after Antwerp.
94, line 18, instead of morals read morale.
Ill, — 9, instead o/But that he did, not read but that he did not.

PETER PAUL RUBENS;
HIS LIFE AND GENIUS.

One of the most important and gratifying results of
the philosophic spirit, and of the profound historical
researches ofthe present age, unquestionably consists in
a more enlarged and just appreciation of the particular
characteristics of whole periods of time, of whole na
tions, as well as of individual personages ; and likewise
in the conviction which results therefrom, that the only
true standard by which to judge of any historical phe
nomenon is to be found in the thorough understand
ing of all its distinguishing peculiarities.
The false judgments produced by the absence of this
higher and more comprehensive spirit in criticism and
B

2 PETEE PAUL RUBENS,
in literature, are sufficiently numerous as regards
general history ; but nowhere more conspicuous than
in the History of Modern Art. It has been too much
the custom to judge of a work of art as the chance
product of certain general circumstances, and to invest
it with a high or low value, according as these were
more or less predominant, instead of considering it as
the most faithful and striking expression of the indi
vidual mind of the artist. Latterly, however, attempts
have been made, and with the best success, to cor
rect the popular opinions of different epochs in the
history of art, as well as of the various schools and
masters, by a deeper examination of the characteristic
peculiarities of each. To judge Rubens and his works
in this better spirit, will be the aim of the following
pages ; and I have selected this painter, not only as
one of the most distinguished and important in the
history of modern art; but more particularly because it
has been his fate either to have been extravagantly ex
tolled, or depreciated in an unjust and one-sided manner,
instead of being judged in that large and impartial
spirit which a mind and talents like his ought to
command. Rubens belongs to that small number of gifted in-

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. -5
dividuals on whom outward circumstances have smiled

from early youth ; to whom has been granted the care
ful and uninterrupted developement of all their native
powers. His father,* a jurist and man of singular
learning, was appointed, in May 1562, a magistratef
of Antwerp. But the disturbances in the Nether
lands, particularly the rage for destroying pictures,
which broke out in the month of August 1566, and the
attendant disorders which for some time seemed to
threaten life and property, caused him to feel so inse
cure in Antwerp, that he followed the example of many
of the most respectable Catholic families of the Ne
therlands, and sought refuge in Cologne. In this city,
in the year 1574, his eldest son was born, and received
the name of Philip. He was subsequently distinguished
for his classical acquirements, but died as early as 1611.
On the 29th of June 1577, being the festival of St. Peter
and St. Paul, the wife of John Rubens presented him
with a second son, who, in honour of the saints, received
* The family of Rubens came originally from Styria, in Upper Austria.
Bartholomew Rubens, the grandfather of the painter, visited Brussels in
the suite of the Emperor Charles V. about the year 1520, and, having mar
ried a Flemish lady of noble birth, afterwards settled at Antwerp. See
the French Life of Rubens. — A. J.
f In German, Schbffen ; in French, Echevain.
b2

4 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
their names at his baptism. The family of Rubens re-
remained in Cologne until the year 1587,at which period
John Rubens died. After this event, as the aspect of af
fairs in Antwerp had now become more settled, owing to
the conquest of the city by the Duke of Parma, and also
much more favourable to the Catholics, the widow de
cided on returning there with her two sons. By the time
our Peter Paul Rubens had reached his sixteenth year,
she found an opportunity of placing him as page in the
household of the widowed Countess of Lalaing ; but his
taste for higher and nobler occupations had been already
called forth by a careful education ; and the irregular
course of life he was obliged to lead in this situation was
so little suited to his disposition, that in a short time he
returned again to his mother. The quickness of parts,
the capacity for acquiring knowledge of every kind,
but more particularly languages, which young Rubens
displayed, induced his mother and guardians to destine
him for the profession of his father; yet, as he showed
a remarkable inclination for drawing, an hour or two
were occasionally devoted to instruction in this art,
under a skilful master. In a short time, however his
love for this pursuit became so strong, that he earnestly
entreated his mother to be allowed to devote himself

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 5
entirely to painting as a profession. This request she
and the guardians were at length induced to gratify, not
only in consideration of the singular talent which he
displayed, but also because the greater part of the
family fortune had been lost in the wars. Rubens was
then placed as a regular pupil under Tobias Verhaegt,
a skilful landscape painter; but shortly after he was
consigned to the tuition of the historical painter, Adam
Van Oort, distinguished for his fine colouring; but
whose dissolute life, churlish manners, and vulgar
treatment of his pupils, so much disgusted young Ru
bens, that he soon quitted him and had recourse to Otto
Van Veen, usually named Otto Venius, at that time
court painter to the Infanta Isabella, and her husband,
the Archduke Albert, and highly esteemed in the Ne
therlands. Rubens now found all that he most desired ;
not only was he charmed by the gentle and amiable
character and the polished manners of his master, but
his thirst for instruction in his art was fully gratified
by the extensive and scientific knowledge, in all the
details of painting, which Otto Venius possessed and
freely communicated to his pupil ; and, as the extraor
dinary talents of Rubens were allied to remarkable
diligence and perseverance, we can easily understand

6 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
th at he profited greatly bv the opportunities of instruc-
Jionhe now enjoyed : his progress was in fact so rapid,
that, in the year 1600, Venius advised him to go to
Italy, there to finish his education as a painter. He
was then in his twenty-third year.
It is not easy to find another instance of an artist
undertaking this journey so well- prepared for it in
every respect as was the case with Rubens ; — a journey
which has too often proved the rock on which the
hopes of many young artists of Germany and the Ne
therlands both in former times and in our own day have
been miserably wrecked. Owing to the writings of such
men as Justus Lipsius and others, the study of classical
antiquities was at that time general in the Low Countries,
and Rubens, besides being well grounded in this branch
of knowledge, was sufficiently master of the Latin lan
guage to be able to speak and write it with fluency.
Jn accordance with his general cultivation nfjmrirlwaa
that rare combination of various^capahilities as an
artist^ which he had acquired through the aid of his
different instructors. The feeling for nature in all her
various forms, and especially under that general aspect
which we call landscape, had been early and for ever
awakened by Verhaegt : he had also acquired the

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 7
admirable style of colouring of Adam Van Oort ; and
lastly, he had to thank Otto Venius for being well
grounded in anatomy and perspective, and particularly
in the principles of the chiaro oscuro, as well as for
many admirable hints with regard to composition in
general. Previous to the commencement of his Italian
journey, Rubens had already executed several valu
able pictures. Amongst others, Descamps mentions
the Adoration of the Three Kings and a Holy Tri
nity : also a Christ dead in the arms of God the
Father, surrounded with angels, and the instruments
of the Passion ;* which last picture was to be seen,
as an altar-piece, under the gallery in the church of
the Carmelites in Antwerp so late as the year 1769.^
Rubens began his journey to Italy on the 9th of
May 1600, having previously recommended himself to
the protection of the Infanta Isabella and the Arch
duke Albert, to whom, through Otto Venius, he was
already most favourably known as an artist. He pro
ceeded first to Venice,! and thence in a short
* Descamps la vie des Peintres, &c, torn. i. p. 323.
T Descamp'a Travels, translated into German by Volkmann, p. 189.
This picture is engraved by S. a Bolswert.
X Houbraken says he passed through France, which, however, does
not seem to me probable.

8 PETER PAUL RUBENS, -
time to Mantua, where he presented his letters of
recommendation from the Archduke to Duke Vin
cenzio I. of the house of Gonzaga. This prince, cele
brated for his taste in literature and patronage of the
fine arts, soon became aware of the uncommon genius
of the youthful painter, and offered to take him into his
service as gentleman of the chamber. To this proposal
Rubens readily acceded : it afforded him the wished-for
opportunity of studying at his leisure the immense col
lection of treasures of art belonging to the house of
Gonzaga, then existing entire in Mantua, though the
pictures subsequently formed the principal part of the
collection of Charles I. of England. The spirited and
beautiful compositions of Giulio Romano, in the Pa
lazzo del T., particularly the Marriage of Psyche, and
the Fall of the Giants, seem to have had an extraor
dinary effect on the mind of our young artist: to
none of the great Italian masters did he feel himself
so nearly allied by sympathy of taste in composition as
to Giulio Romano ; and the influence which the works
of this great painter exercised over him at this time, is
to be traced in his own finest works. The Triumphal
Procession of Caesar, by Andrea Mantegna, now at
Hampton Court, but at that time in the Mantuan
Gallery, must also have had some influence upon him,

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 9
as is proved by the free copy which he made of one of
the compartments : this copy is in the possession of
Samuel Rogers, esq.*
Towards the end of the year 1601, Rubens went to
Rome, where, however, he remained but a short time.
Soon after his return to Mantua, profiting by the per
mission of the Duke, he proceeded to Venice, and,
while in this city, he employed his time in studying
* Dr. Waagen's more detailed account of this picture is too cha
racteristic of the painter to be omitted. " Rubens, during his residence
at Mantua, was so pleased with the Triumph of Julius Caesar, by Man
tegna, that he made a free copy of one of the nine pictures. His love for
the fantastic and pompous led him to choose that with the elephants
carrying the Candelabra ; but his ardent imagination, ever directed to the
dramatic, could not be contented with this : instead of a harmless sheep,
which, in Mantegna, is walking by the side of the foremost elephant,
Rubens has introduced a lion and a lioness, which growl angrily at the
elephant. The latter, on his part, is not idle, but, looking furiously round,
is on the point of striking the lion a blow with his trunk. The severe
pattern which he had before him in Mantegna has moderated Rubens in
his taste for very full forms, so that they are here more noble and slender
than is usual with him. The colouring, as in all his earlier pictures, is
more subdued than in the later, and yet powerful. Rubens himself seems
to have set a high value on this study ; for it was among his effects at his
death. During the revolution Mr. Champernowne bought it from the
Balbi palace at Genoa. " — Art and Artists in England, vol. ii. — A. J.

10 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
with great care the works of Titian and Paul Vero
nese, two masters who, of all others, seem to have most
assisted him in the cultivation of his strong faculty of
colour. Three pictures which he executed for the
church of the Jesuits in Mantua, exhibit the result of
these studies.
After these new proofs of talent, the Duke, who had
long wished to possess copies of some of the most valu
able pictures in Rome, thought he could employ no
fitter person for this object than Rubens. While
eugaged in the task, he found time, during his re
sidence at Rome, to execute a commission which he
had received from the Archduke Albert to paint three
pictures for the church of Santa Croce di Gerusa
lemme, connected with which church the Archduke had
formerly borne the cardinal's hat.* These pictures,
representing the Crowning with thorns, the Crucifixion,
and the Finding of the Cross, were very remarkable as
specimens of his style of painting at that period. They
were brought to England in the year 1811, and sold
by auction the following year. The Crucifixion, after
wards sold by Mr. Woodburn to Count Woronzow,
and sent to St. Petersburg, was unhappily lost at sea.
* Before his marriage with the Infanta, he was a cardinal.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 11
It was probably on his return from Rome that
Rubens spent some time in Florence, in order to
study the works of art in that city : he received a
distinguished welcome from the Grand Duke Ferdi
nand I. It appears, however, that he did not paint
much for him at this period, as his most celebrated
pictures in the Pitti Palace were executed at a later
date. While Rubens was in the service of Duke Vincenzio,
he appears to have gained his entire confidence and
good will, and was esteemed by the Duke, not only as
a distinguished artist, but as a man of cultivated mind*
and amiable manners : and, in truth, if we may trust
to the unanimous testimony of all contemporary wri
ters, Rubens seems to have belonged to that rare class
of gifted natures who, from personal as well as mental
qualities, are born to exercise a peculiar charm on all
around them. To a handsome and well-proportioned
frame was united a certain dignity of demeanour. His
* It is said that the Duke, once visiting Rubens unexpectedly when he
was at work on a picture representing the combat between jEneas and
Turnus, recited the well-known lines from Virgil : — " Ilie etiam patriis ag-
men ciet Oenus ab oris," etc. The Duke was not a little surprised, when
the artist replied in elegant Latin to the verses which he had smilingly
addressed to him.

12 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
regular features were set off to advantage by a fine
complexion, and glossy brown hair; and his eyes, beam
ing with a softened fire, gave to his whole counte
nance a character at once gentle, animated, and
noble. To these advantages were added a most
captivating manner and an agreeable voice ; ready
powers of conversation; an active, clear intellect,
with a turn for humour, and an habitual self-command.
Considering these advantages, it is not surprising
that the Duke should have fixed his eyes on Rubens
as the fittest person to be the bearer of certain
presents he wished to send to the King of Spain.
He therefore, in 1605, recalled our artist from Rome
and commissioned him to convey to Philip III. a
splendid state carriage, and six horses of uncommon
beauty. At the court of Madrid, Rubens met with the most
gracious reception, not only in quality of the duke's
ambassador, but in that of an accomplished artist. He
was employed to paint the portraits of the king, and
several of the most distinguished nobles, for which he
received princely remuneration in presents and ap
plause. His mission fulfilled, he once more returned to

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 13
Mantua, and once more obtained leave from the Duke
Vincenzio to visit Rome, where he had been commis
sioned to paint an altar-piece for the church of Santa
Maria, in Vallicella. In the centre he represented the
Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus in glory, surrounded
by adoring angels. In the side compartments he in
troduced several saints, particularly Pope Gregory and
St. Maurice; the last are said to be painted in a
grand style, resembling that of Paul Veronese. During
this residence in Rome, he was joined by his brother
Philip, in whose company he studied the antiquities of
the place with the utmost diligence and zeal. We find
the result of these researches, in a work published by
Philip Rubens, in 1608, in the literary contents of
which Peter took no inconsiderable part, besides giving
the sketches for six copperplate illustrations. *
About the commencement of the year 1607, Rubens
quitted Rome, proceeding first to Milan, and afterwards
to Genoa ; where he received so many orders for
pictures, and passed his time so agreeably, that he
* In the Electis, page 21, an elegy to our artist, by his brother Philip,
begins thus : Discupio enim aliquod hie extare amoris et grati in ipsum,
(P. P. Rubenium,) animi monumentum, qui tum artifici manu, tum acri
certoque judicio, non parum in Electis me juvit.

14 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
remained longer there than in any other part of Italy.
Amongst the numerous works which he painted while
at Genoa, for churches and private persons, two
destined for the church of the Jesuits, (the Circumci
sion, and St. Ignatius healing a man possessed of a
devil,) may be classed with the best of his Italian pro
ductions. As an occupation of secondary importance, he took
sketches of the most interesting palaces and churches
in Genoa, which were afterwards published in a work
of engravings.* The quaint, fantastic, and somewhat
barbarian magnificence of the greater part of the
palaces in Genoa seems to have been in accordance
with his taste, and many of his later pictures show the
effect which these architectural studies had on his
mind. His sojourn in Genoa was most painfully inter
rupted, in the autumn of 1608, by the news that his
mother was dangerously ill. He at once decided on
his immediate return to Antwerp, after a residence of
not less than eight years in Italy ; but he did not reach
* Palazzi di Genova, raccolti . e designati da P. P. Rubens. Antwerp,
1622, with 139 copperplates, large folio. In the year 1652, a, second
volume of this work appeared.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 15
his home in time to see his mother again ; she had died
on the 14th of November previous.* The grief which
he felt at this loss was so great that he passed four
months in the abbey of St. Michael, where his mother
was buried, in the deepest seclusion, during which
time nothing but his pencil and a few chosen books had
power to afford him any consolation. At length his
habits of Italian life, and his sentiments of gratitude
and friendship for the Duke Vincenzio, to whom he felt
doubly bound by the very flattering offers he had lately
received from him, inspired the determination to re
turn to Mantua. But when he presented himself before
the Archduke and the Infanta at Brussels, they pressed
him so generously and so earnestly to remain in the
Netherlands, and attach himself to their court, placing
before him, at the same time, the prospect of a
brilliant career in his own country, that he at once
determined on sacrificing his previous engagements
and plans, and acceded to their wishes ; he only en
treated permission to choose Antwerp as his place of
residence, fearing lest the distractions of a court
might prevent him from reaching that high eminence
* The mother of Rubens, to whom he was so much indebted in the
course of his education, was Maria Pypelink, of a well-known family of
Antwerp. — A. J.

16 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
as an artist, which with labour and diligence he hoped
to attain. Having thus determined to settle himself in
his native land, Rubens began to look about for a
wife, as the best means of ensuring his happiness : and
he soon found what he sought, in Elizabeth Brant, the
daughter of a magistrate of Antwerp, to whom he
was united in the month of November 1609. His next
object was to possess a house, which, in architectural
beauty and internal arrangements, should be a fitting
abode for an artist ; and, as far as possible, indemnify
him for the sacrifice he had made in not returning to
Italy. In pursuance of this idea, he decided upon
building a house in the Italian style,* after designs
of his own ; the front was painted in fresco with his
own hands, and the rooms were decorated with vari
ous works of art; between the court and a large
garden, in which were cultivated the rarest flowers
and trees, he caused a rotunda to be constructed,
lighted from a cupola above, similar to the Pantheon
in Rome.f Here the most valuable statues, busts,
paintings, vases of agate, gems, cameos, and an admi-
* According to Houbraken, the building of this house cost him 60,000
florins. t Harrewyns made two copperplate engravings of the house and garden
in 1684.

SIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 17
rable collection of coins, which he had brought from
Italy, were arranged in a tasteful manner. During
his life he continued to add to this collection by every
means in his power.
Being thus established according to his taste, he
apportioned his time in the following manner : He was
in the habit of rising very early ; in summer at four
o'clock, and immediately afterwards he heard mass.
He then went to work, and, while painting, he habitu
ally employed a person to read to him from one of the
classical authors, (his favourites being Livy, Plutarch,
Cicero, Seneca,) or from some eminent poet. This was
the time when he generally received his visitors, with
whom he entered willingly into conversation on a variety
of topics, in the most animated and agreeable manner.
An hour before dinner was always devoted to recrea
tion, which consisted either in allowing his thoughts
to dwell as they listed on subjects connected with
science or politics, which latter interested him deeply ;
or in contemplating his treasures of art. From
anxiety not to impair the brilliant play of his fancy,
he indulged but sparingly in the pleasures of the
table, and drank but little wine.* After working
* Fuseli is reproached with having taken quite an opposite method to
G

18 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
again till the evening, he usually, if not prevented by
business, mounted a spirited Andalusian horse, and
rode for an hour or two. This was his favourite
exercise ; he was extremely fond of horses, and his
stables generally contained some of remarkable beauty.
On his return home it was his custom to receive a
few friends, principally men of learning, or artists, with
whom he shared his frugal meal, (he was the declared
enemy of all excess,) and passed the evening in in
structive and cheerful conversation. This active and
regular mode of life could alone have enabled Rubens to
satisfy all the demands which were made upon him
as an artist, and the astonishing number of works he
completed, the genuineness of which is beyond all
doubt, can only be accounted for through this union
of extraordinary diligence, with the acknowledged
fertility of his productive powers.
One of the first pictures which Rubens painted after
his return from Italy, was an altar-piece for the private
chapel of the Archduke Albert, representing a holy
stimulate the vivacity of his fancy ; yet, when we look upon the works of
the two painters, do not the creations of Fuseli seem to spring from the ex
citement of penance and fasting, and those of Rubens from the jovial
spirit of high-fed self-indulgence? — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 19
family. The Virgin is holding, with both hands, the
infant Jesus, who is standing on a pedestal, whilst St.
John, who is sitting on the lap of Elizabeth, is adoring
him. Joseph, looking on with an expression of sym
pathy, is standing behind the Virgin. Of all the
compositions of this class painted by Rubens I have
no hesitation in according the palm to this, for with
the exception ofthe infant Christ, which has the air of a
portrait, and is not successfully executed, the charac
ters are dignified and noble, the forms fine, the
colouring of rare clearness and depth, without exagge
ration, the finishing most happy and full of feeling. *
This picture was so much admired, that the members of
the fraternity of St. Ildefonso, at the head of which was
the Archduke Albert, commanded an altar-piece to be
painted by Rubens, for the chapel of the order of St.
James, on the Caudenberg, near Brussels : this picture,
which is at present in the imperial gallery at Vienna,
* This masterpiece was afterwards removed to Vienna, with the collec
tion of the Archduke Leopold, and was an ornament of the imperial gal
lery until it was presented by the Emperor Joseph II. to the well-known
Burtin, in Brussels. After passing through several hands, it at last came
into the possession of Mr. Bourhault, of Paris, with whose collection it
came over to England.
c2

20 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
represents the Virgin Mary enthroned, and putting
the cloak of the order on the shoulders of St. Ildefonso :
she is surrounded by four female saints. On the inte
rior of the wings are the portraits of the Archduke
Albert and Isabella, with their patron saints. This
work, one of the most admirable ever painted by
Rubens, displays in a remarkable degree the qualities
praised in the former one.
Highly valuable as a specimen ofthe peculiar man
ner in which Rubens treated portraits at this period
of his life, is the celebrated picture in the Munich
gallery, representing himself and his first wife, which,
¦ to judge by the youthful looks of both, could not have
been painted very long after their marriage.* The
air of sober affection in the couple, who are seated in an
arbour of honeysuckles, the expression of calm intellect
and energy in the head of Rubens, and of cheerful,
good-humoured contentment in that of his wife, lend
a particular attraction to this picture, and speak direct
to the heart : in this respect it differs as much from
the peculiar style of his later works, as it does in the
stronger marked outlines, the less glowing colouring,
and the careful^execution of the well-adjusted and
* Engraved in the stippled manner, by Hess.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 21
elegant attire of the figures, as well as of the foliage
and herbage in the foreground.* It was only by degrees
that Rubens adopted a more free, brilliant, fantastic,
but at the same time somewhat sketchy style; and even
in his later pictures, traces of this finer, softer, and
more elevated manner are observable. In one of his
most celebrated works, the altar-piece in the cathedral
of Antwerp, which was painted before the year 1620,
both his styles, the earlier and the later, are found re
markably combined. In the centre piece, the Descent
from the Cross, the boldness of the composition, the
* This charming picture merits all the praise bestowed on it by Dr.
Waagen ; such is the expression of quiet happiness, the " sober certainty
of waking bliss," shed over the figures, that it is scarce possible to con
template it without a smile of complacency, and, at the same time, an
emotion of sympathy and congratulation. It is always interesting to note
the manner in which different characters, supposing an equal degree of
cultivation and judgment, are struck by the same pictures ; I therefore
subjoin the critique of Sir Joshua Reynolds in his notes on the Dussel
dorf Gallery. " Rubens and his wife, when he was a young man, for
his portrait here appears not above two or three-and-twenty : his wife is
very handsome, and has an agreeable countenance She is by much the
best part ofthe picture, which is rather in a hard manner. The linen is
gray ; he was at this period afraid of white." Rubens must have passed
his thirty-second year when this portrait was painted, in 1609 ; but he
certainly looks much younger. — A. J.

22 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
energy in the characters, the striking attitudes, and
the effect of the grouping, together with the glowing,
vigorous colouring, belong to his later style; whereas a
few of the heads, particularly that of the Virgin, dis
play the careful execution of his earlier period. The
interior ofthe wings, on which are painted the Visita
tion, and the Presentation in the Temple, exhibit, on
the other hand, a greater resemblance to the conjugal
picture already alluded to, owing to a certain repose in
the action, a more elevated expression of delicacy
and feeling in the characters, and a less glowing,
though still admirable colouring.*
* There have been many engravings made of the centre piece ; the best
ofthe older ones, by Luc Vostermann — of the later ones, by Claessens.
The Visitation is engraved by F. de Jode ; the Presentation in the
Temple by P. Pontius.
The origin of this famous picture, as related in various lives of Rubens,
ought not to be omitted. The painter, in preparing the foundations
of his new house, had unknowingly trespassed on a piece of ground
belonging to the company of arquebussiers at Antwerp. A lawsuit was
threatened, and Rubens, with all the vivacity of his nature, prepared
measures of resistance ; but when his friend Rockox, one of the greatest
lawyers of the city, had proyed to him that the right lay not with
him, he immediately drew back, and offered to paint a picture by way
of compensation. The offer was accepted, and the company of arque
bussiers required a representation of their patron, St. Christopher, to be

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 23
Such works as the Descent from the Cross had raised
the painter's reputation to the highest pitch, so that
when the widowed Queen of France, (Marie de Me
dicis,) wished to adorn the Luxemburg palace wth a
series of pictures, representing the principal events of
her life, Leo von Viego, who at that time was the
ambassador from the Netherlands to the court of Paris,
found no difficulty in inducing the queen to employ
Rubens in preference to all other painters of the time.
Rubens therefore made a journey to Paris in the
year 1620, where he was received in the most gracious
manner ; and having come to an understanding with
placed in his chapel in the cathedral. Rubens, in that munificent and
magnificent spirit which always distinguished the man, presented to his
adversaries, not merely the single figure of the great saint, but an elabo
rate and significant illustration of his name, {the Christ-bearing.) Thus,
in the centre, the disciples are lifting Christ from the cross and sustaining
him in their arms ; on the wings we have the Visitation ; St. Simeon
with Christ in his arms, St. Christopher with Christ on his shoulders, and
the old hermit bearing the light. The arquebussiers, we are told, were
disappointed at first, not to have their saint represented in the usual
manner, and Rubens was obliged to enter into an explanation of his
work; after which they condescended to be satisfied. They had received,
though perhaps they knew it not, in exchange for a plot of earth a few
feet square, a miracle of art, of which it would now be difficult to com
pute the value either in money or land. — A. J.

24 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the queen relative to the subjects for twenty-one coin-
positions, ie obtained permission, for the sake of ex
pediting their completion, to have them painted in his
own atelier at Antwerp. In executing the commissions
which now poured in upon him, he derived the greatest
advantage from the numerous pupils he had been
induced to receive since his return from Italy. These
young men, under his careful instruction, had become
superior artists, and with their assistance he was enabled
to have the pictures placed in a gallery of the Luxemburg
palace, erected for the purpose, so early as the month
of March, 1 625. Besides the sketches for these pictures,*
he did not execute with his own hand more than the
principal parts in the more important amongst them.
He probably confined himself merely to painting the
portraits, which for the greater part he took from the
life, when at Paris. If these portions by the hand of
Rubens belong to the most admirable of his perform
ances, still the value of the rest naturally varies accord
ing to the greater or less talent of the pupils who
painted them. To these twenty-one, were added the
portrait of Mary de Medicis, as Bellona, and those of
* They are now in the Gallery at Munich. — A. J,

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 25
her parents, the Grand Duke Francis of Tuscany, and
his wife, the last of which, it is probable, were merely
touched here and there by Rubens. In the composi
tion of the historical scenes, and in the manner
in which he has treated the allegorical and histo
rical personages, he may justly be reproached with
that depravation of taste, so disagreeably apparent in
the works of many of the Flemish masters of the six
teenth century. Who that is endued with a fine and
high feeling for art, can derive pleasure from contem
plating a whole bevy of Olympian divinities, with their
appendages, represented according to the notions of
the ancients, consequently half-naked, sometimes as
swimming the ocean, or hovering in the air, and these
brought into immediate juxta-position with kings and
queens and other personages of high rank, for the most
part faithful portraits, and all in the formal court costume
of those times ? The marriage scene, in which a bishop
is represented as performing the ceremony before an
altar, in the presence of Christ, whilst the heathen god
Hymen is bearing the train of the princess, has long
struck even the most unqualified admirers of Rubens
as unseemly. However, the queen and her court tes
tified tlieir high approbation when the work was

26 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
completed.* It was during this last residence at Paris
that Rubens became acquainted with the Duke of
Buckingham, that unworthy favourite of Charles I.,
whose portrait he painted. This acquaintance led to
a correspondence, which resulted in the purchase by
the Duke of Buckingham of the whole admirable col
lection of statues, paintings, and other works of art, in
the possession of Rubens, for the sum of 100,000 florins,
and which, without doubt, formed the most important
pari, of the duke's valuable collection.f It was the
intention of Queen Mary to decorate another gallery
in the Luxemburg palace with a series of paintings by
the hand of Rubens, taken from the history of Henri
Quatre ; and Rubens did, in fact, paint the victory of
Henry IV. at Ivry, and his subsequent triumph, which
are now in the grand-ducal collection at Florence ; but
the numerous demands on his time and exertions dur
ing the following years, and at a later date the un
happy fate of the queen, prevented the completion
of this undertaking, to the great loss of all lovers of
art. * This whole series is now in the Gallery ofthe Louvre.
t " The Duke," says Walpole, " was bent on the purchase, and gave
ten thousand pounds for what had not cost above a thousand." — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 27
On the 29th September, 1626, Rubens had the mis
fortune to lose his wife ; his grief at this severe
domestic affliction was very great, and to divert his
mind he undertook a journey to Holland. There
he visited the most distinguished painters, as Cor
nelius Poelenberg, Gerard Honthorst, and others,
to whose works he accorded due praise, and purchased
one or more pictures from each of them. In the ate
lier of Honthorst he made the acquaintance of Joachim
Sandrart, then in his twenty-first year. At the insti
gation of his master, (who was himself prevented by
illness,) he accompanied our artist, for a fortnight, on
a tour to the different towns of Holland. Sandrart
mentions this journey in his " German Academy," in
the following manner : " I could find much to relate of
this journey, and of his worthy conduct, but will thus
shortly include all, — that like as he is distinguished in
art, so have I found him perfect in all other virtues,
and everywhere I have seen him looked up to with
admiration by persons of high and of low degree."
We are now arrived at the period when Rubens dis
tinguished himself in quite another field than that of
the fine arts — that of diplomacy. The melancholy con
dition of his native land, continually a prey to war, had

28 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
affected him so deeply, that he made it his aim to gain
every possible information on political subjects, and
had carefully considered the aspect of affairs in the
Netherlands, as well as in the other most influential
states of Europe : he had accordingly seized every
opportunity of increasing his stock of political know
ledge, and had acquired, besides, a singular ease
and tact in his intercourse with society : he was
also master of several living languages, thanks
to his having been well grounded in Latin in
his youth. These peculiar advantages had not es
caped the penetration of the Archduke Albert,
who esteemed Rubens so highly that he had stood
godfather to his eldest son. It is said, moreover,
that shortly before his death, in 1621, he enjoined
his wife to trust to the advice of Rubens in mat
ters of difficulty, as to that of an upright, wise, and
clear-headed man. From this time Rubens received
many marks of distinguished favour at the hands
of the Infanta; on her return from the siege of
Breda, in June 1625, in company with the Marquis
Spinola, she had even honoured him with a visit in
his own house. The year preceding, when the com
mencement of hostilities between England and Spain

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 29
had made a truce with the United Provinces desir
able, Rubens had been chosen by her to negotiate
to this effect ; but her project was entirely defeated by
a court intrigue. When Charles I. was induced by
Buckingham, in 1627, to declare war against France,
it seemed probable to the Infanta that England might
now be disposed to enter into a treaty of peace with
Spain ; she therefore employed Rubens to correspond
on the subject with Gerbier, the agent of Charles I.
at the Hague, — and at that time in the service of
the English monarch as painter and architect. In
pursuance of this object Rubens himself made a
journey to Holland, and in July, the same year, had a
meeting with Gerbier, at Delft ;* but the dilatoriness
and indecision of the court of Spain, and the unrea
sonable exactions ofthe Dutch, who were to be parties
to the treaty, caused this negotiation to end without
any favourable results.
The ruined state of the finances, and the growing
discontent ofthe people, in the year 1627, induced the
Infanta to send Rubens to Spain, in order to call the
- For further particulars, see the letter from Gerbier to the English
minister, Lord Holland, dated 6th August, 1627, in Walpole's Anecdotes
of Painting in England, vol. ii.

30 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
attention of the king more forcibly to this state of
things. In the month of September he reached
Madrid, and executed the delicate commission en
trusted to him with so much discretion and candour,
that he soon gained the confidence of Philip IV. and
of the Duke d'Olivarez. The following year the Mar
quis Spinola was recalled to Spain ; and the Infanta,
finding herself now deprived of the only man who was
capable of successfully opposing the Dutch, longed
more eagerly than ever for a peace with England,
to which she hoped Charles I. would at length accede,
one impediment at least having been removed by the
murder of the Duke of Buckingham, on the 23rd of
August in the same year. She therefore commanded
Rubens to do all in his power to gain over the King
of Spain to her views : but skilful as he was, and
practised in all the arts of persuasion, he at this time
failed, owing to the well-known indecision of the Spa
nish court. He had executed several admirable pictures
during his protracted residence in Madrid, and now re
turned to Brussels, after having been raised by the
king to the dignity of secretary to the Privy Council,
and loaded with gifts and recompenses.
He had not been long at home when the people

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 31
ofthe Netherlands, ground to ihe earth by heavy taxes,
and embittered by the arrogant conduct ofthe Spanish
troops, exhibited the most alarming signs of discontent.
The King of Spain, fearing another .insurrection,
and in a state of great financial distress, owing to
the capture of the La Plata fleet by the Dutch, at
length wrote to the Infanta to send Rubens to
England in order to negotiate a peace. Towards the
end of 1629, Rubens, having received his instructions,
departed for London. The choice of an ambassador
could not have fallen on any one better calculated to
suit the individual character of Charles I., who was a
passionate lover of art, and easily captivated by men of
cultivated intellect and refined manners. Rubens,
therefore, in whom the most admirable and attractive
qualities were united to the rarest genius as an artist,
soon succeeded in winning the attention and regard
of the king. Charles was the more readily gained
over to this project of peace, as the war had been under
taken by Buckingham merely in a fit of caprice, and
the resources of England were nearly exhausted
through it, and the war with France. Nevertheless
the negotiations with Cottingham proceeded so
slowly, that Rubens found time to execute several

32 PAUL PETER RUBENS,
pictures; he began by painting an allegory repre
senting the blessings of peace, and the horrors
of war, which he presented to the king as a tan
gible recommendation of the pacific measures he
had come to propose.* He likewise painted a Saint

o

* This admirable picture, after the breaking up of the collection of
Charles I., came into the possession of the family Balbi, of Genoa. It was
however, obtained by the Marquis of Stafford during the French revolu
tion, and by him presented to the National Gallery.
On a reference to Buchanan's chronological history of the importation of
pictures into England, it appears that in 1802 this celebrated picture was in
the collection of one of the Doria family, and not included in the Balbi
Gallery ; it is described in a letter from Irvine, Buchanan's agent, as con
taining " almost everything in which Rubens excelled, — women, children, n
man in armour, a satyr, a tiger, fruit, and furies : it is known in Genoa by
the name of Rubens' family, and has always been a well-known and cele
brated picture. It is in the collection of George Doria, &c." The pic
ture was purchased ofthe Doria family for £1,100, and on its arrival in
England its real subject and history was ascertained by a reference to the
catalogue of King Charles's pictures, where it is called " A picture of Peace
and Plenty, with many figures as big as life, by Rubens ;" and in another
part of the same catalogue it is entitled " An emblem of Peace and War,
which Sir Peter Paul Rubens, when he was here in England, did paint,
and presented it himself to the king, containing some nine figures." It
was first offered to government, but declined by Mr. Pitt ; subsequently
it was purchased by the Marquis of Stafford for ,£3,000, and by him
munificently presented to the National Gallery. Considering the associa-

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 33
George, engaged in combat with the dragon,* an
Assumption of the Virgin Mary, as well as the
sketches for the nine pictures which were intended toi
represent, in an allegorical style, the illustrious deeds
of James I., and were to decorate the ceiling ofthe
throne saloon in Whitehall : the pictures themselves
were finished at a later date in Antwerp.-f In the
mean time Rubens received numerous tokens of favour
and reward from the king ; as early as the month of
tions connected with it, it could be nowhere more fitly placed. It may
be interesting to add, that the inimitable landscape in the National
Gallery was brought to England from Genoa at the same time, and pur
chased by Lady Beaumont as a present for her husband. The biography
of a famous picture, with all the vicissitudes, associations, and sentiments
connected with it, would surely be a charming thing — well and truly re
corded. — A. J.
* This picture was purchased by Endymion Porter for Charles I. It
was afterwards in the Orleans gallery, and at the great sale of the Orleans
collection in England, in the year 1798, was bought by Mr. Morland for
1000/. He disposed of it to George IV. at a later period, and it is now
in Windsor Castle.
t Rubens is said to have received for them 3000/. : the figures are all
of colossal proportion. These pictures could never have been classed
with the first-rate performances of the artist, and have suffered much
from repeated restorations. It must be allowed that James I. was far less
calculated to inspire the imagination of a painter than Marie de Medicis.
D

34 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
February, 1 630, he was knighted by him in White
hall, on which occasion the king is said to have
presented him with his own sword : and when at length
the preliminaries were brought so near to a conclusion,
that in November the treaty of peace was to be signed
at the court of Spain, Rubens, on taking leave, re
ceived a handsome service of plate, and the portrait of
the king appended to a rich chain of gold, which last,
in grateful remembrance, he ever after wore around
his neck. While Rubens had been thus singularly suc
cessful in gaining the favour of the King of England,
he had shown the greatest tact in keeping steadily in
view the interests ofthe court of Spain. This is suffici
ently proved by the fact, that by the articles of peace,
which were most disadvantageous for England, Charles
I. had completely sacrificed his unfortunate brother-in-
law the Elector Palatine, and not less by the honourable
reception which Rubens met with at the court of
Madrid, whither he immediately proceeded, to give an
account of his diplomatic labours.* Philip IV.
* The part which Rubens took in this negotiation for peace, has
been wilfully misrepresented and exaggerated by many writers. The best
historical authorities on this subject are to be found in Khevenhiiller
Annales Ferdinandi, torn. xi. p. 893 and 897, sub. 1629 ; and in Fiorillo,
vol. iii. p. 10 ; likewise in the epitaph on Rubens, by Basan and de Piles.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. -35 \ '¦
lavished on him the most flattering expressions of,
satisfaction, accompanied by costly presents; and he
was promised that the office of secretary to the Privy
Council should, upon his decease, be continued to his
eldest son. After having painted the portraits of the
king and several of his courtiers, with some other
pictures of value, besides taking the measurement for
the works which he was commissioned to execute for
the Palace Torre de la Parada,* he returned again to
Brussels, where he was most graciously received by
the Infanta.
In the year 1631 Rubens formed a second matrimo
nial alliance : his bride was Helena Forman, a young
girl of sixteen, belonging to one ofthe richest and most
respectable families in Antwerp. Her extraordinary
beauty, modesty, and amiable qualities, have been
celebrated by every writer of that day. She fre
quently served him as a model, and her portrait is
found in many of his historical pictures.f The same
* Scenes from Ovid's Metamorphoses.
+ Rubens paid his young bride a truly divine compliment when he
painted her in the character of the Virgin Mary receiving the instructions
of her mother, St. Anna. This lovely picture is in the gallery ofthe Aca
demy at Antwerp. — A. J.
d2

36 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
year he accepted the office of director of the School of
Art in Antwerp ; and at his installation he presented
a picture to the academy, the subject of which was
the Virgin, with the infant Jesus, and Joseph. The
renown of Rubens as a painter daily increasing, many
of the most considerable princes of Europe were desi
rous of obtaining some of his works, and as the orders
he received were far too numerous to allow of his
executing them all with his own hands, he usually
contented himself with furnishing the sketches only,
leaving the greater part of the works to be executed
by his pupils, and then merely putting the finishing
touches to the whole.* We must admit that pictures,
in which the figures were painted by such artists as
Van Dyck, Soutman, Van Heck, Diepenbeck, and Van
Thulden ; the landscapes by Wildens or Van Uden ;f
* Sandrart, p. 292.
+ Snyders, Wildens, and Van Uden, were employed by Rubens to
paint the backgrounds and accessories to his pictures, but were not properly
his pupils. Among the latter, the two most celebrated were Vandyck and
David Teniers, who had sufficient original genius to strike out a path
for themselves distinct from that of their master. Diepenbeck was long
in England, and patronised by the famous Duke and Duchess of New
castle-: Fuseli gives him great praise as a designer. Soutmann is better
known as an engraver than as a painter. Van Thulden successfully imi-

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 37
the animals and other accessaries by Snyders ; may
be regarded as successful, and for the most part ex
cellent performances ; but it was impossible that they
could display such consistency and individuality in
conception and execution as those which emanated
from the pencil of Rubens alone.
Without the co-operation of such pupils it would
have been impossible for him to finish his large
Altar-pieces in the incredibly short space of time re
quired. Thus he painted, about this period, the cele
brated altar-piece for the church of St. Roch, in Alost,
in eight days, representing that saint healing the sick
tated the style of his master, and was his principal assistant in painting
the Luxembourgh Gallery. Van Hoeck attained to considerable emi
nence, particularly in portraits. Some other disciples of Rubens, who
assisted in his atelier, deserve honourable mention : Jacob Jordaens,
for instance, who emulated his master as a colourist, and in his free and
spirited handling. Sir Joshua Reynolds says, " that his horses are but
little inferior to those of Rubens," which is saying much ; but he is a
coarse painter, without grace, dignity, or propriety, in his conception
of character : his finest work, " the Satyr blowing hot and cold," is, I
believe, in the Munich Gallery. Francis Wouters came v to England in
1637, was patronised by Charles I., and appointed painter to the Prince
of Wales, after Charles II. Erasmus Quilien, or Quellinus the Elder,
and Van Egmont, obtained considerable wealth and reputation in their
art, without attaining either excellence or fame. — A. J.

38 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
of the plague. On such occasions it was often ar
ranged that for every day employed upon a picture
he should receive one hundred florins.*
His occupations as an artist were interrupted, in
the year 1633, by another diplomatic mission. After
receiving instructions from the Marquis Aytona, he
went to Holland to endeavour to arrange a truce.
With his usual address he had already made much
progress in his negotiations, when they were abruptly
broken off, owing to the sudden death of Maurice,
Prince of Orange. Shortly afterwards, the apprehen
sions excited at the court of Brussels by the military
successes of the Dutch, caused Rubens to be sent to
Holland again, and he succeeded this time in inducing
the States General to enter into a regular treaty of
peace with the plenipotentiaries of Spain. He had
not been long returned from this mission, when he
received the painful news that the Infanta Clara
Eugenia Isabella, his oldest and most esteemed
patroness, had died on the 1st of December, 1633.
About the year 1635, Rubens became subject to
frequent fits of gout, which attacked him often in
the hands, and completely disabled him from paint-
* About ten pounds sterling.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 39
ing more than a small part of his pictures himself;
from this period, therefore, he was chiefly employed
with pictures of such a size as could be placed on his
easel, and landscapes were the subjects which he
generally preferred : many of these he finished at
his country residence, Stein, near Mechlin. About
the same period he withdrew from all business, and
broke off all correspondence with persons at a distance ;
yet the interest which he took in art and science still
survived in all its former enthusiasm, as is shown by
the letters which he wrote in the last years of his life,
and by the intercourse which he still kept up with
artists and men of learning. Amongst the latter, Gaspar
Gevaerts, a distinguished scholar, who at a later
period was appointed counsellor to the Emperor
Ferdinand III., was particularly esteemed by him.*
The Cardinal Infant Don Ferdinand, brother to
Philip IV. of Spain, had succeeded Isabella as Regent
* It would be pleasant to be assured that Vandyck's inimitable por
trait in our National Gallery, known as that of Gevaerts, or Gevartius ,
represented this distinguished friend of Rubens ; but, in the opinion of
Dr. Waagen, it not only is not this Gevartius, but the name is altoge
ther supposititious : and his reasoning appears conclusive. See his " Art
and Artists in England," vol. i. p. 223. — A. J.

40 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
of the Netherlands, and was to enter the city of Ant
werp in state, in the month of May, 1635. The
authorities, wishing to give due splendour and interest
to the ceremony, applied to Rubens to furnish them
with designs for eleven triumphal arches.* These
sketches he accordingly made, assisted by Gevaerts,
in the invention of the allegories, which were all in
allusion to the character and illustrious deeds of the
prince.f He was prevented, however, by a fit of
the gout, from explaining them himself to the Re
gent on the day of his public entry, though he was
indemnified afterwards by a visit which the Prince
paid him in his own house. On this occasion they
discoursed for a long time together, and the Prince
expressed his admiration of the numerous works of
* These appeared in a work of engravings at Antwerp, in 1635, under
the title, " Triumphus Austriacus," &c, with forty-three plates, and a
learned text by Gevaerts.
+ Of these sketches, which, though painted under the influence of ill
health and declining years, exhibit all the fire and spirit of an unimpaired
fancy, some are preserved in the Academy at Antwerp, and a few are in the
Imperial Gallery at Vienna ; among the latter, I remember a fine co
lossal figure of Don Ferdinand himself, much like a warrior, and very
unlike a cardinal. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 41
art with which Rubens, sparing no expense, had
adorned his abode a second time.
Nothing, however, inspires such a favourable idea
of the disposition and general structure of the mind of
Rubens as his conduct towards other artists ; — conduct
the more worthy of admiration, as he himself, owing to
his great talents, wealth, and distinguished connexions,
occupied a station in society at once honourable and
important. His doors were open at all hours, even
when he was at work, to every artist desirous of
profiting by his aid or advice ; and although he
seldom paid visits, yet he was ever ready to in
spect the works of any artist who wished it: on
these occasions he invariably gave his opinion with
candour according to the principles of art ; nay, he
would frequently take up the brush himself, and touch
such parts as required it. In almost every picture he
was sure to discover something good, and it seemed
to afford him real pleasure to acknowledge the
merits of a brother artist, and to set them forth on
every opportunity. Upon being told that Van Dyck,
after his return from Italy, complained that the profits
from his works were not sufficient for his maintenance,
he went the very next day to him, and purchased all

42 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the pictures which he found completed in his ate
lier. The manner in which he conducted himself to
wards his enemies, and those who were envious
of his brilliant reputation, was as wise as it was
generous. The insinuations of the painter Rom-
bouts, who did all in his power to detract from his
merits, he refuted by his famous work, the descent
from the cross, in the cathedral of Antwerp. To
Abraham Jansens, who challenged him, for a wager, to
paint a picture with him, and submit their rival pre
tensions to the decisions of the public, he replied, that
this was quite unnecessary, as he had long submitted
his works to the judgment of the whole world, and he
advised him to follow his example.* The slanderous
detractions of Cornelius Schut he requited in another
manner. He paid him a visit, praised his pictures,
and, inquiring their prices, declared that he would
buy them himself for the sums named : further
he assured him, that, in case he should ever be
* Jansens had in his time no superior but Rubens ; he would, perhaps,
have equalled him, had he not wasted his energies and his substance in a
life of dissipation. His chef-d'oeuvre, " the Raising of Lazarus," is in
the Munich Gallery. — A. J .

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 43
without employment, he might always reckon on his
assistance.* And when his enemies had spread
the report abroad that he employed Snyders, Van
Uden, and Wildens, because he was himself incom
petent to paint animals and landscapes; he replied
to the imputation by executing with his own hand
four landscapes and two lion hunts in such a man
ner as to silence the most envious. In further
confirmation of Rubens's good sense and practical turn
of mind, an anecdote has been related by Sandrart.
Brendel, an alchymist from London, of celebrity in
those days, once paid a visit to our artist, assuring him
that he was on the eve of discovering the philosopher's
stone, and offering to divide with him the expected
gains if he would advance a sum sufficient to prepare
> Cornelius Schut had been one of the scholars of Rubens, and rose to
high eminence in his art ; " but the superior merit of Rubens prevented
him from being as much distinguished and employed as he justly de
served. So great a disappointment and obstruction to his making a
figure in his profession inspired him with an implacable enmity to
Rubens ; but that great man, instead of expressing any resentment, was
only more active and zealous to procure him employment by a generous
.and zealous recommendation of him and his performances." — Vide Lives
of the Painters. — A. J.

44 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the laboratory and the necessary materials. Rubens,
after listening to him with patience, replied, " Master
Brendel, you have come just twenty years too late,
for so long is it since I first discovered the true philo
sopher's stone in my palette and pencils."*
In the beginning of the year 1640, the attacks of gout
became so frequent and violent that Rubens at length
fell a victim to his disorder, in the sixty-third year of
his age. His splendid funeral procession included all
the clergy and men of distinction in Antwerp, as well as
all the artists : a crown of gold was borne before his
bier. His remains were placed in his family chapel,
in the church of St. James, the altar of which was
adorned by one of his own most admirable works,
representing the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus,
with the adoration of Saint Bonaventura. This pic
ture contains, besides, the portraits of three females,
(two of them being his own wives,) and that of the
artist himself, who is represented as Saint George ; in
the foreground are Saint Jerome and the lion.f
* Sandrart, p. 292. Van Dyck, the celebrated pupil of Rubens, did not
resemble him in practical sense ; on the contrary, he allowed himself to
be robbed of a great part of his fortune, as well as of his good temper,
by these gold-making projects.
t Engraved by Paul Pontius.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 45
This picture is singularly attractive, from the energy
and life in the figures and the splendour of the co
louring. In accordance with the wish of his family,
his friend Gevaerts wrote a Latin epitaph, in which
the merits of Rubens as a man of learning, a painter,
and a statesman, are commemorated ; and further it is,
stated, that the chapel and the monument were erected
to his memory by his widow and children : it does not,
however, redound to their honour, that the plain slab,
on which this inscription is engraved, was not really
put up till a century after the death of Rubens, by
one of his descendants, Jean Baptist van Parys, a
canon of the church of St. James.* In his domestic
character, Rubens had shown himself as blameless as
in all the other relations of life. His eldest son, Albert,
who succeeded him as secretary of the privy council,
was a man of extraordinary learning ; at his death,
which took place at an early age, he left behind him
several classical dissertations, from which Graevius
published a " De re vestiaria Veterum ;" and at a later
period, he reprinted it in the sixth volume of his
Thesaurus of Roman Antiquities. The catalogue of
the works of art in the possession of Rubens at the
* The account may be found in De Piles and Basan.

46 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
time of his death, contained three hundred and nine
teen pictures alone. At first, it was the intention of
the family to sell the whole collection by auction ; but
this did not take place ; and the pictures, after being
valued by Franz Snyders, Wildens, and Nicholas
Maermaus, were sold separately by private contract.
The principal purchasers were the King of Spain, the
Emperor, the King of Poland, the Elector of Bavaria,
and Cardinal Richelieu, the latter of whom obtained a
great part of the most valuable works. The collection
of gems and cameos, which is said to have been ex
tremely valuable, together with his medals and carv
ings, were bought altogether by the King of Spain.
Now that we have become acquainted with the
character and leading circumstances connected with
the life of Rubens, we are in some degree prepared to
form a just estimate of him as an artist ; and, in
pursuance of this object, it will be necessary to look
back to the condition of painting in the Netherlands
at the period when he began his career.
The great school of the brothers Van Eyck, which
united with a profound and genuine enthusiasm for reli
gious subjects, a pure and healthy feeling for nature, and
a talent for portraying her minutest details with truth

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 47
A- . .
I and fidelity, had continued till the fifteenth century,
and in some instances even later, to produce the most
admirable works, combining the utmost technical
perfection in touch and finish with most vivid and
beautiful colouring. To this original school, how
ever, had succeeded a perverted rage for imitating
the Italian masters, which had been introduced into
the Netherlands by a few painters of talent, particu
larly by Jean Mabuse and Bernhard van Orley. To
display their science by throwing their figures into
forced and difficult positions, and strongly marking
the muscles, by which they thought to emulate the
grandeur of Michael Angelo, and to exhibit their learn
ing by the choice of mythological and allegorical sub
jects, became the aim of succeeding painters ; and before
these false and artificial views of art, the spirit of reli
gious enthusiasm, and the pure naive perception of
the truth and beauty of nature, gradually disappeared.
In proportion as the Flemish painters lost the proper
conception of form, and the feeling for delicacy and
beauty of outline, it followed, of course, that they
became more and more removed from nature in their
desire to rival each other in the forced attitudes of
their figures, and in the exhibition of nudity, until,

48 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
at last, such disgusting caricatures were produced as
we find in the works of Martin Hemscherk or Franz
Floris, artists who were even deficient in good colour
ing, the old inheritance of the school. Some few
painters, however, whose feeling for truth and nature
repelled them instinctively from a path so far re
moved from both, took to portraying scenes of
real life with considerable humour and vivacity, or
they delineated nature in her commonest aspects with
great minuteness of detail : and thus tableaux de genre
and landscape painting originated. Despite the great
merits of many of these works, they are nevertheless
deficient in unity and simplicity of character. In the
conception they display a vulgar taste, and a frequent
straining after singular and extravagant effects. The
artists of the Netherlands in the sixteenth century ap
pear to most advantage in portrait painting ; for here
they were reduced to the necessity of copying nature ;
but, even in this department, few are altogether
exempt from affectation and stiffness.
Although a few isolated efforts to introduce a better
state of things were visible towards the end of the six
teenth century, it was reserved for a mind of no com
mon power to bring about a complete revolution in

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 49
a mind was that of Rubens himself. A thorough
Fleming in temperament and character, he led his
countrymen back to the very point whence sprang
their original excellence, the lively perception of na
tural forms, and the developement of the faculty of
colour. But the spirit of the times in which he lived,
and the peculiar temper of Rubens' s own mind, naturally
prevented these characteristic qualities from being ex
hibited now as they would have been in the age of the
Van Eycks. It had been the aim of the latter, as far as
their means allowed, in the colouring as well as in the
execution of their works, so to imitate nature, that their
pictures, whether looked at closely, or contemplated from
a distance, should produce, as nearly as possible, the
same effect ; the principal thing with Rubens, on the
contrary, was the general effect.; and though he painted
the details with the^grejLle^Jxnlh^he^contente.d him
self with_making them subordinate to the whole, so as^
to resemble nature at a certain distance. The means
which were at his command in his own time for the
accomplishment of his purpose, — a better knowledge of
the laws of perspective, and of the chiaro oscuro, that
breadth of style first introduced by Titian and his
school, and then so admirably practised by Michael

50 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
Angelo da Caravaggio, and the Caracci, — these he
had mastered with the greatest energy during his
long residence in Italy, and the more successfully, as
they perfectly accorded with the nature of his own
genius. But instead of that genuine religious enthu
siasm, long since vanished, which had formerly in
spired the Van Eycks, so as even to spread a certain
solemnity over their scenes of passion, the mind of
Rubens was so imbued with the love for dramatic re
presentation, that he imparted life and movement
even to subjects which properly demanded__a_certain
caljnness_and .repose in the treatment. A most glow
ing and creative fancy, inexhaustible in the concep
tion of new forms full of life and vigour, would naturally
find even the easiest method of painting tedious, and
thus feel the necessity of acquiring some method of
transferring its creations to the canvass in the shortest
time possible. His rare technical skill, and his extraor
dinary faculty of colour, aided Rubens admirably in at
taining this object. He obtained at once the art of
placing, with a master hand, the right tones in the
right places, without trying all kinds of experiments
with the colours on the pictures themselves ; and after
he had with ease blended them together, he knew how

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 51
to give to the whole picture the last finish by a few
master touches in those parts which he had left un-
painted for the purpose. This mode of treatment, so
characteristic of the turn of Rubens's mind, is the rea
son why his pictures bear the stamp of an original
lively burst of fancy more than those of any other
painter. Hence Rubens, beyond any artist of modern
times, may be styled a sketcher in the highest and
best sense of the word. If the greater part of his pic
tures bear upon the whole the character of a cheerful,
jovial spirit, undisturbed by outward misfortunes, and a
strong feeling of self-complacency, still these qualities
are more particularly expressed in the style of his
colouring. ^Rjahejas^aa^o^Jimnst , might be called the _
painter of light, as Rembrandt is the painter of dark
ness. With Rubens, everything is imbued with, the
pure element of broad light ; the different colours
are brought., close jtp^eiher__m_ luxuriant contrast ;
but in tlieir harmonious relation to each other
they celebrate a common triumph. Thus many of his
large pictures, for instance the Assumption of the
Virgin in the cathedral of Antwerp, may be said to
produce the same effect as a symphony, in which the
united sounds of all the instruments blend together
e 2

52

¦ PETER PAUL RUBENS.

joyously, divinely, mightily. No other painter Jias
ever known how.tQ ..produce such a. full and satisfactory
tone of light, such a deep-chiaro-osGuro-usited with
such general brilliancy... Few can be compared to him
in the admirable gradations in the keeping of the whole,
and in the manner in which each variety of surface is
distinctly pronounced ; the colouring of his flesh in
particular has such a vivid transparency of tone — such
a glow of life — that it is easy to understand how Guido
Reni should have been struck with wonder upon be
holding a picture of Rubens for the first time, and
exclaim, " Does this painter mix blood with his
colours ?" * The creative fancy of Rubens was ca
pable of conceiving every possible variety of subject
at all fitted for the pencil, and the sphere was indeed
ample from which his remarkable cultivation of
mind enabled him to select. Thus he painted sub
jects from the Bible, from the legends of saints,
from ancient and modern history, and from classical
* In the same manner it was said of Parrhasius, the great master of
colouring among the painters of antiquity, that his women " looked as
though they had fed on roses ;" and Annibal Caracci said of Caravaggio,
that he did not paint but grind flesh, alluding to the texture and touch
as well as the colour. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 53
mythology : portraits, and conversation pieces ; battle,
and hunting pieces ; grotesques, and landscapes.
With regard to fertility of invention, Raphael and
Albert Durer are the only modern painters who
can be compared with him. There is the greatest
difference, however, between Raphael and Rubens in
this respect, as Baron von Rumohr has well remarked ;*
for the peculiarity of Raphael consisted principally in
the perfect comprehension of his subject, and in prov
ing on the canvass that he had penetrated into its in
most signification ; whereas Rubens made every sub
ject conform to his own most one-sided nature, and he
accordingly treated all such as were 'foreign to it in a
most capricious manner. Therefore it is, that while all
the works painted by Rubens himself bear the true
stamp of genius, and captivate us by the originality and
freshness of thought exhibited in them, as well as by
* The Baron C. F. von Rumohr is considered one ofthe most learned
judges of painting and cookery in all Germany. His critical workB on art
are in high repute : among them may be mentioned the essay on " Raf
faelle and his Contemporaries ;" on " the Origin ofthe Architecture ofthe
middle ages ;" on " Hans Holbein ;'' and " the History and Theory of
Carving in Wood and Ivory," (Formschneidekunst.) He has written,
moreover, one of the best cookery books extant, under the title of " Geist
der Kochkunst," (the Spirit of Cookery.) — A. J.

54 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the masterly keeping, the vigour and glow of the co
louring, and the talent displayed in the treatment al
together, yet the gratification we derive from them is
ever in proportion to the harmony which existed be
tween the subject and his own natural disposition.
To the man's individual nature we may trace the
most striking characteristics of the painter, — his turn
for dramatic conception, his loose and sketchy treat
ment. To the jovial, buoyant hilarity of his temper,
we owe his decided taste for the powerful, the coarse,
the sensual, which allowed him but seldom to approach
to a finer appreciation of form, and, only in some few
instances, to the dignified expression of elevated and
noble, or even of soft and gentle characters. In truth,
he was so little able to divest himself of those impres
sions of the human form which had been early en
grafted on his mind in his native country, that even
when he copied from other masters — for instance, from
Leonardo da Vinci — he unconsciously translated all the
heads in his Flemish manner, and gave to the other
parts of the body that amplitude and heaviness of cha
racter which was usual to him.*
* Remarkable in this respect is an engraving by Soutmann of a draw
ing which Rubens made after the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci, and
likewise a copy by Rubens of a picture by Titian, in the new palace at

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 55
Generally speaking, it is impossible to derive un
mixed pleasure from those works of Rubens in which
the subjects are taken from the sacred writings, where
so much of the effect depends on the elevated expres
sion of moral beauty, sanctity, purity, and calm beati
tude ; even in the treatment of subjects from the my
thology of the ancients, indelibly associated in our
minds with the idea of divine gracefulness and delicacy
of form, Rubens was seldom successful ; not only was
he naturally deficient in the perception of such quali
ties, but here more particularly, his rash and rapid
treatment, the want of study, defective drawing in the
figure, and a capricious and unquiet arrangement of
the drapery, are frequently and disagreeably felt. His
representations of the Madonna but seldom, and his
representations of the Redeemer scarcely ever, excite
those ideas which we should consider appropriate and
worthy of those divine subjects.
From this general criticism we may except the pic
ture in the Capitolo Prioral of the Escurial, in which
the Virgin is represented as standing on the globe,
and trampling on a serpent which is writhing beneath
Madrid, representing Adam and Eve. The forms, which in the original
are sufficiently full, are here still more rounded and ample.

56 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
her feet. A distinguished and gifted female critic* has
well described this picture : " The Virgin is a tall,
slender, and dignified figure ; a heavenly crown, with
the rays of glory, just touches her head ; she looks like
the queen of heaven, and inspires at once veneration
and awe. Two angels, most lovely infant forms, stand
on the clouds, close to her side, the one holding a
palm, the other a wreath of laurel. The expression in
the countenance of the Virgin is that of adoration and
gratitude ; there" is something unearthly and inspired
in the soul which looks out from her eyes ; her dress
falls from her waist in rich folds, and a white veil covers
her bosom. This pictupcls so beautiful, in such noble
keeping, and so free^rom that disagreeable vol uptuous-

* The account given in the course of this essay ofthe pictures in Spain,
painted by Rubens, I owe to the copious notes taken by the late Madame
de Humboldt (wife of the minister Von Humboldt) during her residence
in that country, which have been obligingly communicated to me.
They are of the more value, as, Germany excepted, Spain probably
contains the greatest number of masterpieces by the hand of Rubens.
Owing to these notes, and the sphere of my own experience, comprising
the principal works of Rubens in Germany, the Netherlands, France,
Italy, and England, I have become acquainted with nearly all the
works of this artist.

[IIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 57
ness which characterises Rubens's females in general,
that it can be contemplated and dwelt on with delight,
although hanging on the same wall with a Raphael
and a Guido : while it possesses all the advantages
which belonged so exclusively to the manner of Ru
bens, — the most blooming flesh tints, the loveliest co
louring." Besides this Madonna, there is another in the Ado
ration of the Three Kings, in the Royal Museum of
Madrid. In this instance also, the Virgin, contrary to
all custom, is not seated, but standing ; the heavenly
beauty of the features, and still more the dignity of the
form, with the benign and graceful inclination ofthe
body, render it exceedingly attractive.*
The communion of the dying Saint Francis, who is
kneeling before the altar, supported by his brethren of
the order, a principal ornament of the Antwerp Aca
demy, must be included in this list of exceptions, on
account of the dignified expression and the noble
heads. In this picture, executed in the year 1619, we
remark the influence of the Caracci in the composi-
* A lithograph of this picture has lately appeared in a work on the
Gallery of Madrid, by F. de Craene : it is, unquestionably, the finest
picture of this class which Rubens ever painted.

58 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
tion, and that of Michael Angelo da Caravaggio in the
rare depth of the chiaro oscuro.
Such subjects as the three Goddesses and Paris;*
Venus Anadoyomene ; f Latona with her Children,
Apollo and Diana; J and the Three Graces, are,§ in
the way in which Rubens has treated them, ill calcu
lated to satisfy the demands which, as to form and
character, are unconsciously made, and are, therefore,
more worthy of consideration for the manner in which
the leading idea is conceived and developed, than for
the expression of individual character.
His taste for allegorical subjects Rubens derived from
his predecessors, the Flemish painters of the sixteenth
century, particularly from his master, Otho Venius.
As already remarked, he was not in general free from a
perverse and tasteless treatment of works of this class •
yet several of them, owing to a wonderful life and vi
gour in the conception, and their superiority over the
cold and formal representations of other artists are
worthy of distinguished praise.
* In the New Palace at Madrid. Engraved by A. Lommelin.
t Engraved by P. de Jode.
J In the Munich Gallery.
§ In the Academy at Madrid. Engraved by P. de Jode.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 59
Besides his three great allegorical works, already
mentioned, the life of Marie de Medicis, the apotheosis
of James I. of England, and the triumphal arches in
celebration of the entrance of the Cardinal Infant Fer
dinand into the city of Antwerp, Rubens treated a con
siderable number of religious as well as profane sub
jects in the form of allegory. Among the first, the
most remarkable for grandeur of composition are six
pictures representing the glory and the triumph of the
Catholic Church:* there is, however, reason to be-
* Engraved by S. a. Bolswert, N. Lauwers, and Adrian Lommelin. These
belonged to a series of nine pictures which Rubens was commissioned by
the Duke d'Olivarez to paint for the church ofthe monastery ofthe Car
melites at Loeches, about twenty miles from Madrid. They have been
separated, however, of late. Four of the principal pictures are in the
gaUery of the Marquis of Westminster ; who purchased them from the
Danish minister, M. de Bourke, for the sum of ,£10,000. They are
assuredly most magnificent compositions, particularly that of the " Fa
thers of the Church ;" and I do not know why Dr. Waagen, in his ac
count ofthe Grosvenor Gallery, should mention them rather in a dispa
raging manner. One of the series, " The Triumph of Charity," was in
1830 in the possession of Joshua Taylor, Esq. Two apparently remain
in Spain ; and two others, now in the Louvre, were presented to the
French commandant at Loeches, in consideration of his affording mili
tary aid in carrying off the pictures from the convent, the people of the
town having risen to oppose this act of spoliation. The account of the

60 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
«
lieve that only the sketches for these works were painted
wholly by Rubens. The most beautiful of all the
mythological allegories is that which Rubens painted
for the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Mars is represented
hurrying forward, scattering death and destruction
abroad, whilst Venus and Cupid are vainly attempt
ing to arrest his progress; the Arts and Sciences,
personified, are cast down beneath his feet, as the
first victims. This picture, which Rubens finished
entirely with his own hand, forms one of the treasures
of the Pitti Palace. A beautiful study of the same
subject is in the collection of the poet Rogers in
London. It is very interesting to observe how well Rubens
has generally managed to treat that class of religious
subjects which in his days was most in vogue, (namely,
the legends of the later saints, and particularly such
as had for their object the glory of the order of the
Jesuits,) in accordance with the dramatic turn of his
own mind, so as to afford him an opportunity of pro
ducing some of his most perfect and beautiful works.
transaction, which took place in 1808, when the Peninsular war was at
its height, would form a most picturesque chapter in the memoirs and
adventures of famous pictures. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 61
First, and superior to all others, is the picture which
was originally painted for the church of the Jesuits
in Antwerp, but which is at present in the Imperial
Gallery of the Belvedere at Vienna — St. Ignatius
Loyola casting out devils.* The boldness of the whole
composition, the striking manner in which the action
is represented, the admirable keeping in the masses,
the vigour of the colouring, and the ease and freedom
ofthe execution, render this a most effective jsicture, and
one of the most favourable specimens of the peculiar
style of Rubens. A pendant to this, the St. Francis
Xavier raising the dead and healing the sick, must be
mentioned on account of the same perfections. This
picture was likewise painted for the church of the
Jesuits, and is now in the Gallery ofthe Belvedere, f
To these two noble pictures must be added a third,
* Engraved by Marinus. t Engraved by Marinus.
These two pictures hang near each other in the Imperial Gallery at
Vienna, and the eye dwells first on one, then on the other, unable to de
cide which is the greater production. My own taste led me to prefer the
St. F. Xavier, though I believe the other is the finer picture. They are
most wondrous specimens of what Dr. Waagen calls the dramatic style of
Rubens, full of action, movement, — telling a whole history in one scene.
The Empress Maria Theresa purchased these pictures, and gave for

62 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
painted by Rubens for the church of St. Martin in
Alost, and long in the gallery of the Louvre, but
which, I have reason to believe, has been reclaimed
from the French, in 1815, and restored to this church.
In the upper part of the picture, St. Roch is fervently
imploring the aid of Christ for the sufferers by the
plague, who, in the lower part of the picture, are seen
directing their imploring looks upwards towards their
Redeemer and Intercessor.*
But Rubens's natural tastefor_ striking cojrtrast_and_
violent action is strongly displayed in the jDeculiar .aniL
characteristic manner in which he has conceived aya^
fr-rjgt^fe^bj ggtppf , the likejiature. Thus, in a pic
ture which he painted for the church of the Fran
ciscans in Ghent, now in the Museum at Brussels,
Christ is represented in the clouds as full of wrath,
and about to hurl his thunderbolts to destroy the sinful
world, while the Virgin Mary, arresting his arm with
her left hand, and pointing with her right to her bosom,
and St. Francis, spreading his garment as a screen
each the sum of 18,000 florins, (about ,£2,000 ;) a small sum for them,
but a large sum for her, who was neither lavish with regard to money, nor
had any predilection for art. — A. J.
* Engraved by Paul Pontius. + Engraved by Sanderen.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 63
over the earth, earnestly intercede for compassion.
It need hardly be observed, that such a conception of
the character of the Redeemer is altogether incon
sistent with the real spirit of Christianity :-. the pic
ture is nevertheless wonderfully effective, and quite
in accordance with the ideas of the Franciscans, who,
from an early period, were fond of considering their
saint as a second mediator. A similar subject, with
the exception only that St. Dominick and many other
saints are imploring the mercy of Christ, as well as
St. Francis, was painted by Rubens for the church
of the Dominicans in Antwerp, and is now in the
public gallery at Lyons. Lastly, in a picture in the
possession of the King of Spain, the subject of whicn
is the daughter of Herodias, she is represented, ac
cording to Madame de Humboldt, in a manner altoge
ther unusual, in the act of hurrying along with the
head of the Baptist in her hands.
But in subjects which really required to be treated
in a dramatic style, more particularly in those wherein
the expressietfoTpbwer, grandeur, and strongly excited
passionsr;wei,e-, admissible, and where he consequently
could give free scope, unshackled, unreproved, to all
the inspirations of his genius, there we recognise

64 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
: Rubens in all his glory. I have no hesitation in
| pronouncing him the greatest of all modern painters,
when he had to deal with subjects depending on
the momentary expression of powerfully excited pas
sion, which can only be firmly seized upon and de
veloped in the imagination.
Well acquainted with Roman history, owing to his
early classical studies, Rubens had also a sort of natural
sympathy with the peculiar greatness of the Roman
character, and, in consequence, he seems to have
painted with particular enthusiasm all subjects con
nected with their annals. The most admirable in
this department are six pictures now in the gallery
of Prince Lichtenstein at Vienna, which represent
in succession the leading incidents in the history
of the consul Decius Mus* There is in these pic
tures a simple gravity and grandeur in the person
ages, an energy of action, a tone of colour, deep,
brilliant, and perfectly harmonising with the subject,
* It appears to me the whole tendency of Rubens's mind and genius
might be called Roman, in contradistinction to Greek; — Roman, in its
grandeur, its vastness ;— in a sort of irregular contempt for the more refined
, rules of art, — in the tincture of sensuality and ferocity, depraving at times
the finest productions of his pencil. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 65
which altogether bring before us the heroic virtues
of the ancient Romans in a manner the most cap
tivating and the most imposing. I must likewise
mention here twelve pictures representing events from
the history of Constantine,* formerly in the Orleans
gallery, but now scattered through different private
collections in England, several of which display great
beauties. To these must be added the Rape of the
Sabines,f and the Reconciliation between the Romans
and the Sabines ; the largest pictures of these subjects
are in the Escurial ; but two masterpieces of smaller
size, in the collection of Lord Ashburton in Lon
don, owing to the beauty of the composition, the fine
* Engraved by Nicolas Tardieu. These sketches, for they are not
finished pictures, were brought to England, with the Flemish portion of
the Orleans Gallery, in 1792. The history of this grand acquisition, the
dangers encountered by the purchaser, a Mr. Slade, and the artifices to
which he had recourse in their removal ; the indignation and threats of
the French painters, crowding round the packages, and in despair, to see
this rich collection carried out of their country, would form a striking
chapter in the biography of pictures. The twelve sketches of the history
of Constantine were valued, as a series, at £1,000 ; but no one having
come forward to purchase them, they were, unfortunately we must allow,
dispersed among various purchasers, and brought double the sum. — A. J.
t Engraved by Martenasie. F

66 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
feeling for form, and the spirited treatment, are among
the most admirable works by the hand of Rubens
which I have ever beheld.*
Among the subjects taken from the sacred writings,
it was natural that the expulsion of the fallen angels,
the fall of the damned, and the last judgment, should
best suit the character of his mind. He has, in fact,
painted these subjects several times, though not always
with equal success. The downfall of the angels, in
the gallery of Munich, is a work of remarkable power :
— the boldness in the idea of the tumbling dragon
and the devils, and the expression of their impotent
rage, is most striking. At the same time the drawing
is executed with more care than is usually found in the
works of Rubens. Despite the medley of so many
figures falling together, each is distinctly marked, and
the whole produces a wonderful effect. The Expul
sion of the Damned, in the same gallery, although
admirably painted, and containing many proofs of
talent in the conception, is too overloaded with details
* The small finished composition of the Rape of the Sabines is in our
National Gallery. This picture, so highly admired by some connoisseurs,
did not please Dr. Waagen ; and he criticises it severely, and I think
justly, in his notes on the National Gallery ^ — A . J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 67
and the lines are here and there too complex and
distracting, to allow of an agreeable general effect.
This picture, however, will always offer a remarkable
specimen of the highly drastic* quality of the artist's
imagination. One of the least satisfactory productions
is a sketch, Christ enthroned on a rainbow, receiving
the blessed, as they are brought up to him by angels.
Several figures are attached to one another, hanging at
full length, by which disagreeable lines are produced,
and the whole involuntarily calls to mind a mass of
worms creeping amongst one another. So much the
more brilliant is the so-styled small Last Judgment in
the Munich Gallery. Very happily, and with a proper
feeling of his own powers, Rubens has here given
only a corner in the background to the Blessed, whose
heavenly calm and ethereal existence he was incapable
of expressing ; and he has devoted the whole of the
remaining space to the fall of the Damned, his true
sphere. Whilst the devils are dragging the condemned
into the abyss, the angel Michael is hurling his light
ning at them from above. In spite of the confusion in
* German drastische. No word less effective could express what the
writer means to describe — the immediate and strong working power of the
graphic genius of Rubens. — T.
F 2

68 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the falling figures, amongst which the boldest fore-
shortenings and every variety of attitude are hazarded
with success, the separate groups are easily distin
guishable, and the whole produces an admirable effect
by the broad manner in, which the light is managed. The
colouring is powerful, but not extravagant ; the treat
ment particularly easy and clever. I agree with many
other amateurs of the fine arts, that the much-praised
Last Judgment* in the same gallery does not merit
the celebrity which it has long enjoyed ; for, apart from
the theatrical attitude of Christ, the resurrection ofthe
flesh in the clumsy bodies of the blessed has by far too
great a preponderance in proportion to the insig
nificant expression of the faces ; and however well
such massive bodies may be adapted for falling, they
are not fitted to give the spectator an idea of their
capacity for soaring in the air ; and even the concep
tion of the Condemned appears poor and ineffective,
when compared with the large picture ofthe Fall of
the Angels, or the small Last Judgment. The absence.
of life in the greater part of the heads, the heaviness
and dinginess in the colouring, in comparison with
that of other pictures by Rubens, the exaggeration in
the reflected lights, and the want of confidence and
* Engraved by Corn. Visscher.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 69
ease in the treatment, make it probable that this is
one of those pictures which were painted for the most
part by the pupils of Rubens, and to wliich he himself
added but a few touches.*
To this class of compositions may be added the large
picture which Rubens painted for the cathedral of
Freising, now in the Munich Gallery, the subject of
which is taken from the 12th chapter of the Apoca
lypse. The Virgin, with the new-born Saviour in her
arms, is soaring aloft on the wings of an eagle, and
surrounded by a flood of light The serpent, encir
cling the moon on which she stands, writhes beneath
her feet, whilst God the Father extends his protecting
sceptre over her from above. Further down, the arch
angel Michael, clothed in armour, is seen in fearful
combat with the seven-headed dragon, which is at
tempting to devour the child. Although struck with
* As Rubens was in general more successful in his large than in his
small compositions, it is remarkable that the large Last Judgment, and the
large Fallen Angels, in the Munich Gallery, should be inferior to the
two small pictures ofthe same subjects, but so it is ; they are every way
inferior, not in conception merely, but in execution. Of the small pic
ture ofthe Fallen Angels, Sir Joshua Reynolds says, " It is impossible to
do justice to the genius of Rubens without having seen it;" and after
pointing out its merits with enthusiasm, he pronounces it " one of the
greatest efforts of genius that ever the art has produced." — A. J.

70 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the lightning, the dragon is striving to twist his tail
round the legs of the angel, and seizes the cloak of the
Virgin with one of his heads. Other infernal mon
sters, writhing with impotent rage, are seen tumbling
with the dragon into the flaming abyss. This picture
is one of the most splendid of all Rubens's works, and
produces an extraordinary effect, from the strongly-
marked contrasts, the wild mingling of the sublime and
fantastic in the style of the invention, and the wonder
ful animation and fire in the conception of the dif
ferent parts.
Other subjects taken from the Bible have also been
executed by Rubens with singular success. The follow
ing are the principal :
The Judgment of Solomon ;* and the host of Sen
nacherib, king of Assyria, routed by the angels of the
Lord; both in the gallery at Munich : the horror,
confusion, and tumult into which the Assyrian host
has fallen at the apparition of the angel of destruc
tion descending from heaven in a stream of light, are
portrayed with wonderful energy and spirit.f
Samson overpowered by the Philistines, likewise in
the Munich Gallery. The haste and eagerness of the
Philistines, the fruitless resistance of Samson, and
* Engraved by B. a. Bolswert. + Engraved by Soutmann.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 71
the malicious joy of the false Delilah, are admirably
expressed; and the management of the light, and
transparency of the chiaro oscuro, are of uncommon
excellence. The Resurrection of Lazarus, another fine picture of
this class, is in the Royal Museum at Berlin. The
painter has very happily profited by the dramatic in
cidents which this favourite and oft-repeated subject
presented to his fancy. The characters and the ex
pression are more elevated than usual in the works
of Rubens ; the colouring is uncommonly bright, the
execution is broad and spirited, and the treatment of
the whole harmonious and beautiful.*
Equal, perhaps, even superior to any of these, is
the celebrated Conversion of Saint Paul, in the collec
tion of Mr. Miles, of Leigh Court near Bristol.*f In
this picture, the spirited horse, with the rich flowing
mane, is represented as having fallen on his knees,
while Saul, who has been thrown over his head, lies
prostrate on the ground : dazzled by the heavenly splen
dour, his eyes are closed, and the paleness of terror
* The same composition, though containing many more subordinate
figures, is engraved by B. a. Bolsvvert.
t Admirably engraved by a. Bolswert.

72 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
overspreads his noble features. Judging from the
attitude ofthe arms, wliich express in such an incom
parable manner the irresistible influence of a superna
tural power, Rubens must have had the Ananias of
Raphael full in his recollection. Above, amid a
stream of light, Christ appears ; one of the followers
of Saint Paul remains near him ; the rest are seized
with a panic, and their horses in sympathetic terror
are wildly starting and rearing.
But in this class of subjects, (the scriptural,) the
celebrated Descent from the Cross, in the Cathedral
at Antwerp, unquestionably occupies the first place.
All the figures are zealously occupied around the body
of Christ ; and thus combine into a single large group,
which, owing to the admirable concentration of the
light, has a still further oneness of effect. To this
must be added a truly luminous, though not exagge
rated colouring, a more correct study of the individual
parts, and a much more careful execution than is
usual with Rubens, yet without detracting in the least
from his characteristic freshness and originality of con
ception, as displayed in the general treatment.*
* Louis XIV. wished to possess this picture, and employed the Mare
chal de Villeroi to treat with the city of Antwerp for the purchase ; but

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 73
Nothing, however, is more characteristic of the dra
matic turn of Rubens's mind, than his choice of subjects
from the mythology of the Greeks and the works of
the ancient poets; and in nothing has he displayed
neither the influence of the Grand Monarque, nor the offer of a sum of
money enormous for that time, availed. To the credit of the merchant-
citizens be it spoken, they rejected every temptation, and the king was
obliged to content himself with a fine copy, painted for him by Gaspar
van Opstal in 1704.
Dr. Waagen has well remarked, that the dramatic tendency of Rubens's
mind led him to treat in the dramatic style subjects for which it was
least appropriate. Perhaps the most striking instance of this is his re
nowned picture of the Crucifixion in the Church of the Recollets at
Antwerp. Here the conception of the subject, — the scenic illusion of
the perspective, — the variety and bustle of the incidents, — the dreadfully
true delineation of merely physical agony, — are all in thorough harmony
with the peculiar constitution of Rubens' own mind, but not suitable to
the mournful sublimity, the solemn grandeur and oneness of effect proper
to such a scene. It is too real in its terrors — too terrible in its reality ;
too picturesque in the arrangement and accessories : —
Remit the anguish of that lighted stare !
Close those wan lips ! let that thorn-wounded brow
Stream not with blood — it mingles with thy tears !
Fix, fix those tortured orbs in peace and death,
So thy sick throes shake not the crucifix !
It is an earthly tragedy, not a divine mystery. Still it remains " a most

74 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
more freedom, originality, and poetry, than in the
manner in which he has treated them. Amongst his
numerous works of this class, Castor and Pollux car
rying off the Daughters of Leucippus, in the Munich
wonderful monument of the daring genius of the painter — the grandest
picture in the world for composition, drawing, and colouring." A defect,
perhaps unavoidable, lies in the crosses not being sufficiently elevated,
from the necessity of bringing the nearest figure, that of the reprobate
thief, within the compass of the picture. The inimitable beauty and
pathos of the countenance.and attitude of the Magdalen, have been often
noticed with just admiration.
To the above list of scriptural and historical subjects dramatically
treated, may be added some other well-known pictures. I. " The Meet
ing between Abraham and Melchisedek," figures life-size, in the gallery
of the Elector of Hesse Cassel. (This gallery, which in 1 833 was in great
confusion, ill arranged, and ill lighted, contains a few invaluable pic
tures, with a greater proportion of absolute bad ones than I ever remem
ber to have seen in any one collection, public or private : and this is say
ing much.) II. " The Woman taken in Adultery," in the possession of
Mr. Miles of Leigh Court. This picture, which is entirely painted by
Rubens's own hand, is perhaps of a not much later date than the Descent
from the Cross. This seems to be confirmed by the elevation of feelmg
and the soberness of the colouring. The culprit, whose whole figure is
represented with much judgment, stands, with an expression of contrition,
in the middle. The calm dignity of Christ at her right hand forms a
striking contrast with the vulgar appearance of a corpulent priest, and
the cold, refined malice of a tall, lean Pharisee on the other side. That

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 75
Gallery, is worthy of being first mentioned.* The
Dioscuri, mounted on spirited steeds, one of which
is wildly rearing, are about to carry off the two dam-
Rubens intended to represent in them Luther and Calvin I do not be
lieve, as they are not like them, and Rubens might easily have ob
tained portraits of both. Another man of a dignified appearance is said
to be the portrait of his master, Otto Venius. The flesh is in a very
full tone ; the careful execution admirably fused. This celebrated pic
ture, which is in an extraordinary state of preservation, is said to have been
painted for the family of Van Knyf at Antwerp. III. " The Return of
the Holy Family from Egypt," at Blenheim, a picture which Dr. Waa
gen thinks, from the general resemblance of style and character of the
Virgin, must have been painted before the Descent from the Cross ; " the
ingenuousness and depth of feeling, the cool, serene, subdued mourning
tone in which the whole is most carefully carried through, make this
work one of the most delightful and remarkable productions in the ex
tensive sphere in which Rubens laboured ; it is particularly calculated to
please those lovers of art who do not relish his usual more arbitrary and
fantastic manner. IV. "A Roman Charity,'' also at Blenheim, in which
this difficult and delicate subject is treated with exceeding refinement
and 'discretion ; the expression is noble and affecting, and the colouring,
as usual, most admirable. V. " St. Ambrosius refusing to allow the
Emperor Theodosius to enter the Church at Milan." Figures life-size.
This picture is in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna. A small and beauti
ful copy of it is in our National Gallery. — A. J.
* Engraved in mezzotinto by Van Green. There is also an admirable
lithograph drawing from this most splendid picture

76 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
sels. The calm expression of strength in the male,
and the violent but fruitless resistance of the female
figures, form a striking contrast. One of the Dios
curi is assisting his brother with his right arm to raise
one of the females, — she vainly imploring Heaven
for aid, — whilst with his left hand he has seized
upon the other sister, who, though thrown backwards,
is attempting in despair to escape. Although the
Dioscuri are merely represented as two coarse and
powerful men, and the naked damsels have only com
mon and rather redundant forms and Flemish faces,
yet the picture altogether produces such a striking
effect, owing to the admirable mariner in which the
subject is conceived, the power of imagination which
it displays, and the exquisite colouring and keeping,
that it would never occur to any unprejudiced spec
tator to regret the absence of antique forms and cha
racter.* The next picture of this class, which is worthy of
note, is the Rape of Proserpine, in the collection of the
Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim ; a collection which
* Every one who has stood fascinated before this wondrous picture,
thrilled by the spirit of the action, — the breathing, glowing, panting life
in the figures, — will sympathise with the editor in the eulogy of Dr.
Waagen.— A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 7/
contains more original works by the hand of Rubens
than are to be found in any other private gallery in
Europe. Pluto in his car, drawn by fiery brown
steeds, is carrying off the goddess, who is resisting and
struggling in his vigorous arms. This picture abso
lutely glows with that genial fire, with which Rubens
seems to have simultaneously conceived and expressed
the strong passion of the moment. Here not only
are the forms better defined, more slender and less
exaggerated, than in general ; but, amongst the com
panions of Proserpine, the figure of Diana is conspi
cuous for its uncommon grace and beauty. The vic
torious god of love hovers before the chariot, and
the blue ocean, warmly tinted with the sunbeams,
forms a splendid background.*
But the most admirable picture by Rubens in this,
or indeed in any other department which I have
seen, is the celebrated Battle of the Amazons in the
Munich Gallery, originally painted by Rubens for a
distinguished connoisseur in art,f Van der Geest.
With great judgment he has chosen the moment
when the Amazons are driven back by the Greeks
over the river Thermodon ; the battle takes place
* Etched by Soutmann. t Weyerman, vol. i. p. 268.

78 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
upon a bridge, and thus the horror of the scene is
carried to the highest pitch. Two horses are in savage
combat upon the bridge ; one of the Amazons is torn
from her horse ; a second is dragged along by her sable
steed. Two other Amazons, with their horses, are
falling headlong into the river below, where again
several are trying to save themselves by swimming.
On the other side, a mounted Amazon, who has just
dashed into the water, turns half round, and wounds
her pursuer in the same moment ; near to her are the
dead bodies of several Amazons, which, though already
half naked, are about to be robbed of their last ves
ture. In the distance, beneath the arches of the
bridge, other Amazons are seen struggling, in va
rious attitudes, for life and safety. The admirable
effect of the whole is increased by a decided and mas
terly arrangement of the light ; the colouring is
forcible without being overcharged, and the execution
of the principal parts must be called careful for Ru
bens. In the whole range of modern art, there exists no
other historical battle-piece worthy of being compared
with Raffaelle's Battle of Constantine ; and, in fact, it
has the advantage over the latter in the well-planned
concentration of interest, and^ in the contrast afforded

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 79
by the male and female figures, which is admirably
employed.* In this class of pictures by Rubens, there are
several existing in Spain, of such remarkable value
and beauty, (according to the accounts of Madame
de Humboldt,) that I feel myself called upon to par
ticularise them ; and in so doing, I shall borrow the
expressive words of Madame de Humboldt herself.
The Apotheosis of Hercules, in the new palace at
Madrid, is one ofthe most worthy of note. Hercules
is standing in an antique chariot, resting on his club
in a remarkably bold and firm attitude : he is looking
calmly to the right. Behind him, the flames of his fu
neral pile rise aloft, whilst two genii are soaring above,
the one holding a wreath of laurel over his head, the
other guiding the spirited horses through the clear
ether. There is another valuable picture by Rubens
in the same palace, representing Prometheus carrying
off the fire which he has secretly stolen from Olym
pus. He is advancing swiftly through the air, his face
somewhat timidly turned away ; his frame is very
* Admirably engraved by L. Vorstermann, in six sheets, as early as
1623. Latterly an excellent lithograph of this picture by Hohe has
appeared in the first number of the " Munchner Pinakothek."

80 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
muscular and powerful : the colouring is worthy of
Rubens's pencil. In the palace of the Duke of Infan
tado are the following pictures by Rubens. The youth
ful Achilles, mounted on the centaur Chiron, who turns
his head, and gazes on him ; his horse-limbs are of a
dapple gray. Achilles bathed in the waters of Styx.
And lastly, in another picture, Achilles discovered by
Ulysses among the daughters of Lycomedes.* If we
add to these the Battle of the Lapithae and the Cen
taurs ;f Perseus delivering Andromeda ;J the Race
between Atalanta and Hippomenes; Orpheus res
cuing Eurydice from the infernal regions, — all of
which are in Spain : the Quos Ego, in the Dresden
Gallery; the Fall of Phaeton, in the Lichtenstein
* These three pictures belong to a series of eight taken from the life
of Achilles, which Rubens painted in small size for his patron, Charles I.,
as designs for tapestry. After the death of the king, they were dispersed.
Two of them, Achilles with the daughters of Lycomedes, and Briseis
restored to Achilles, are at present in the collection of Lord Vernon :
engraved by Franz Ertinger.
t Engraved by P. de Bailliu.
X There is also a fine Andromeda at Blenheim, which, from the unusual
elegance in the forms, and the sobriety of the colouring, Dr. Waagen
supposes to have been painted by Rubens in Italy. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 81
Gallery at Vienna ;* Boreas carrying off Orythia ,f
Nessus and Dejanira,J Apollo and Daphne,^ — we
shall then be able to form some idea of the number
of pictures of this class executed by Rubens, and ac
knowledge that no other artist has painted so many
subjects taken from antiquity, so rich in life, move
ment, and incident.
How deeply Rubens was imbued with the love for
representing scenes of a coarse and sensual cha
racter, is proved by the many well-known works of
his, in which the Venus Pandemos, and the Drunken
Bacchus, are the leading personages ; there is such
life and energy in the execution of these pieces, and
the subjects are altogether of so gross a nature, that
many shrink from them at the first glance, find
ing them repulsive and disgusting. He has likewise
painted the subject of Lot and his Daughters three
times, and that of Susanna and the Elders he has re
peated four times. Ofthe former subject, one at Blen
heim — a present from the Emperor to the great Marl
borough — is remarkable for the vile taste in which it
* Engraved by Pannels. t Engraved by Spruyt.
J Engraved by Pannels. § Engraved by Pannels. G

82 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
has been conceived and executed ; not only are the cha
racters and forms intolerably vulgar and repulsive, but
the colouring is bad ; there is much exaggeration in
the bluish half-tones, in the red-reflected lights, and
in the painting of the flesh.* Amongst the repeti
tions of the latter subject, (the Susanna,) there is a
picture in the Munich Gallery remarkable for its
admirable composition, the faithful expression of low
desire in the heads of the elders, and the fine style of
the execution ; the figure of Susanna, on the other hand,
is disgustingly vulgar in character and expression, and
the forms are disagreeably prominent. But it is in
his bacchanalian scenes that Rubens has represented
sensuality with all its most brutal attributes. No less
than thirteen pictures of this class are known by en
gravings. In most of these the characters and mate
rial are the same, but variously combined, and with all
the license of a fertile, exuberant fancy : — Old Silenus
naked, and in a state of complete drunkenness, led
* Engraved by W. P. M'Lean. — There is a picture at Blenheim (and
another in the Gallery of the Louvre at Paris) representing Lot and his
Family escaping from Sodom, of quite a different character — full of
dramatic expression in the sentiments and figures, more nobly conceived,
and painted with a more temperate truth in the colouring, and more care
in the execution, than is usual with Rubens. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 83
by two females, presenting every characteristic of
the grossest animal nature ; in the foreground, per
haps, a fat female faun, unconscious from beastly
drunkenness,, whilst two little fauns are hanging at
her bosom, and intoxicating themselves with her milk ;
a crew of bacchanals and satyrs reeling and rioting ;
panthers ; occasionally a negro or a negress, grinning
with all their might, are introduced as worthy accom
paniments, and as a finish to the expresion of such
scenes. Among the best works of this class we may
reckon a large picture in the gallery at Blenheim,*
another in the collection of Sir Robert Peel,+ a third
in the Munich Gallery.J
A comprehension of the coarse and sensual nature
which pervaded, and in some sort depraved, the innate
artistic talent of Rubens, will enable us to understand
how he could even choose the most horrible subjects
when once his fancy had been caught by the dramatic
incidents which they afforded. These he treated with
all his characteristic power and skill : but the very
luxuriance of his genius, and his wondrous mastery
* Engraved in aquatinta by Hodges.
+ Engraved by Delaunay and De Folo.
J Engraved by Richard van Orley.
G 2

84 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
over the technical department of his art, conspire to
render such subjects more intolerably fearful and re
pulsive from his hand than from that of any other
painter. Of this class, the celebrated Crucifixion of
Saint Peter at Cologne, a subject which was chosen
by Rubens himself from the life of this saint,* is the
most excellent and the least overcharged. The saint
is in the act of being nailed to the cross, with his feet
uppermost, and his body writhing with agony. His
head sinks backwards, whilst the torments which
he is suffering are fearfully expressed in his features,
and his half open mouth seems to emit a cry of
anguish. Six executioners are occupied about him,
all of whom, as well as Saint Peter himself, have very
robust forms. Above, the angel appears with the
martyr's crown, and the palm of victory. The sepa
rate parts of this picture are studied with more than
usual care ; the management of the light, the depth,
* It was finished about two years before his death ; this is shown by a
letter of his to a painter at Cologne, named Geldorp, dated July 25, 1637.
An extract from this letter is printed in an Annual, " Taschenbuch fiir
Kunst und Laune," fiir 1801. This Geldorp was probably the son ofthe
well-known painter of the same name, who died at Cologne in 1616 : a
print of the picture was likewise prefixed to the Annual.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 85
clearness, and richness of the colouring, are most mas
terly. As it was one of the last, if not the very last, of
the large-sized pictures which Rubens painted,* it has
an additional interest, since it proves that he was in
the full possession of his powers even at an advanced
age. In this class of subjects (those remarkable for
the representation of physical horrors) may be men
tioned Judith in the act of cutting off the head of
Holofernes with a kind of hatchet ; the wretch, in the
agonies of death, turns up his eyes in a most horrible
manner.f Progne showing to Tereus the head of his
son after he had devoured the rest of his body. J The
martyrdom of the holy Saint Lieven ;§ his tongue has
been torn out, and is held before a dog, who is snapping
at it. Saint Justus holding his head, which has just
been cut off, in his hands. If And lastly, the celebrated
* This appears from a passage in the same Annual, containing an ex-.
tract from a letter of Rubens to Geldorp, April 2, 1638, according to
which he was occupied with the finishing of this picture at this period.
t Engraved by Corn. Galle.
t In the Palacio Nuovo at Madrid. Engraved by an unknown hand.
§ In the Gallery at Brussels. Engraved by Corn, van Caukerken.
TI Engraved by J. Witdoeck. In the Church ofthe Annunciation at
Antwerp, Sir Joshua Reynolds mentions this picture — truly " a most
untoward subject" — with admiration. The surprise of the tyrant, who

86 , PETER PAUL RUBENS,
Massacre of the Innocents, in the Munich Gallery.
This picture seems to me to deserve its great reputa
tion as little as the Last Judgment in the same
collection. The subject can derive a really fearful
and tragic interest only through a perfectly ideal
treatment, such as we see in the engraving of Marc
Antonio after Raffaelle; whereas the Massacre of
the Innocents by Rubens is, in fact, a mere scene
from common life, conceived in the genre manner,
and consequently producing the same repulsive im
pression with a modern scene of butchery brought
immediately before our very eyes. The women, in
modern costume, attempt, in their despair, to defend
themselves by biting and scratching. One cuts her
hand by seizing the murderous knife. To all this
must be added, that the light and spirited treatment
of Rubens is not to be found in this picture, and still
less his admirable colouring.*
gazes on the martyr with his head in his hands, is naturally and wonder
fully expressed, and is an instance of Rubens's peculiar manner of placing
the figures and characters in relation to each other— that is, dramatising
his subject. The execution, also, is beautiful ; — touched, Sir Joshua says,
in such a style that it may be considered a pattern for imitation. — A.J.
* Engraved by Vorstermann. This is an atrocious picture, which
no perfection of execution could reconcile to any lover of art. I

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 87
But we will now turn to a more pleasing feature of
the mental and moral organisation of this wonderful
painter. Owing to his having frequently resided at
different courts, and to his constant intercourse with
persons of high rank, he had been brought into
close contact with all the magnificence and splen
dour which belonged to those gorgeous times ; hence
cannot now recal, without -a, shudder, the effect it produced on mT
own mind. It is a vivid proof that art has its due limits ; that
though the purely natural and the purely ideal and artistic blend into
each other, yet that the servile imitation of nature, without selection
and discretion, becomes in art a, palpable falsehood — a contradiction
of the truth as regards effect. Thus tliere can be no doubt that in
the real scene the desperate mothers did defend themselves by biting
and scratching, yet, in the literal representation of these horrors, what
ever was tragic and pathetic in the reality is lost in the vulgar,
the grotesque, and the ferocious ; and thus the truth of the effect is
grossly falsified — the manifest aim of art defeated. The picture (for it
is a picture) of the same scene in Holy Writ, in which the attention
and the fancy are concentrated on the single image of " Rachel weeping
for her children, and refusing to be comforted," is equally true to reality
and nature, and far more artistic : — I use the word with all reverence.
In addition to the works of a tragic or terrible cliaracter enumerated
in the text, may be mentioned a famous picture, Queen Thomyris with
the head of Cyrus in a basin of blood, which was brought to England
with the Orleans Gallery, and is now in the collection of the Earl of
Darnley. Engraved by P. Pontius. — A. J.

88 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
it was, perhaps, that on every opportunity he de
lighted in representing the pomp of worldly state,
and everything connected with- it. Of all the sub
jects taken from the sacred writings, none afford
such a rich field for display as the Adoration of the
Three Kings ; he has painted this subject no less
than twelve times, and his fancy appears quite ex-
haustless in the invention of the rich offerings of the
eastern sages ; — costly attire, precious ornaments,
golden vases and utensils, massive, gorgeous, and glit
tering, all painted with wonderful and magical facility.
Among the subjects of a worldly character, the his
tory of Marie de Medicis, the triumph of the Emperor
Charles V.,* the Sultan at the head of his Army,f
See., gave him abundant opportunities of portraying
Oriental and European pageantry, with rich arms and
regalia, and " all the pomp and circumstance of war."
In contrast with this taste for earthly pomp and
grandeur, we find the cheerful, self-contented turn of
Rubens's mind delighting in the representation of
scenes taken from domestic and simple life, and from
the graceful actions and innocent sports of childhood.
* Engraved by Fra Antonio Lorenzini.
f Engraved by P. Soutmann.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 89, ]
The list of his works of this pastoral character, next toV
that of his grand dramatic scenes, comprises some of
the most beautiful compositions with which, as an histo
rical painter, he has enriched the world of art. Under
this point of view we must consider many of his re
presentations of the Holy Family, which are exceed
ingly attractive, although he has given the Madonna
no higher character than that of a simple country
girl. Madame de Humboldt mentions a picture in the
new palace at Madrid, the figures in which are about
one third the size of life. It is a landscape in
which the Virgin Mary, attired as a peasant, is
seated with the infant Jesus gracefully sleeping in
her lap ; close to her are two females and a knight ;
three children are playing with a lamb ; angels are
seen in an arbour of roses ; and in the background
Joseph is reposing against the trunk of a tree. Ma
dame de Humboldt is eloquent in her admiration of
the loveliness and grace of the children, which are
exquisitely coloured, and lend the principal charm to
the picture.
The Virgin and child, to whom a basket of fruit is

90 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
presented by angels,* and also the Infant Jesus and
John playing with a lamb,t belong to this class. J
Many scenes taken from the Greek mythology are
likewise treated in the same pastoral manner. One of
the most beautiful of these for the highly poetic concep
tion and rich variety of incident and fancy, is a picture
in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna, representing the
festival of Venus in the island of Cythera.^ Cupid
and his attendant gods of love, with Bacchanals, are
dancing, offering sacrifices, and doing homage to the
statue of the goddess.
Another admirable picture of this class is in the
Blenheim Gallery, and was a present from the Em
peror to the Great Duke of Marlborough. Venus
and Cupid are vainly attempting to detain Adonis.
Refined feeling in the treatment, beautiful heads, and

* One of the first kind is engraved by Alexander Boet, jun.
t Engraved in wood by C. Jeghers.
J The Holy Family is a subject in which Rubens seems to have de
lighted ; but he has invariably treated it in the domestic and pastoral,
never in the ideal or historical style ; two of the most beautiful I can
remember are in the Pitti Palace at Florence. 1 here exist sixty-eight
engravings of Holy Families painted by Rubens. — A. J.
§ Engraved by Premier.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 91
graceful forms, are united in this work to uncommon
warmth, brilliancy, and clearness in the colouring.
There is another picture of this kind in the same
gallery, the subject of which is inexpressibly beautiful
and attractive. It represents three females occupied
in gathering fruit from the trees above ; Cupid is
reaching it down to them.
There is another and a very large picture in an
obscure room of the Academy of Art at Madrid, which
is probably not less beautiful than the one just men
tioned ; the subject is the guilty Calisto brought be
fore Diana ; the shame of the culprit, and the anxious
interest with which the other nymphs of Diana regard
the proceedings, are expressed with great life and
truth. This picture, too, displays a greater variety in
the forms than is generally found in the works of
Rubens. Another composition, Diana, with her nymphs, re
posing after the chase, is remarkable for similar beau
ties.* Besides these, there is a large picture at Buenretiro,
representing an old man sitting under a tree with
a blue cloak on his shoulders— on his right three other
* Engraved by T. Loueys. This picture is at Munich.

92 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
men are standing, likewise enveloped in cloaks, whilst,
on the left hand, three naked nymphs are busied in
gathering the fruits, which lie in rich profusion at their
feet. Fauns are lurking amidst the foliage. The
nymphs in this picture exhibit a style of beauty very
uncommon with Rubens.*
Lastly, the pictures in which children are represented
playing with fruit and flowers are of extraordinary
beauty. The finest of this class is probably the seven
children in the Munich Gallery, dragging along an
immense wreath of fruit. The children and fruit rival
each other in luxuriance of form, and richness and
force of colouring.^ Another beautiful group of chil
dren is in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna.
* Apparently this is the same picture which, under the title of" Pytha
goras," was exhibited in the Gallery of the British Institution a short time
ago, (in 1839.) The fruit is painted by Snyders : it was sold from the
collection of Rubens after his death, was afterwards at Buenretiro, but
how it found its way to England I know not. The women in this picture
hardly merit the praise of Dr. Waagen, but the whole is a splendid study
for colour, and glows with life and light. — A. J.
t The fruit is by Snyders. In the same gallery is a lovely Madonna
and Child, surrounded by flowers and eleven boy-angels — all exquisitely
painted : the flowers are by Velvet Breughel. Those pictures painted by
Rubens, in conjunction with Snyders and Breughel, are almost as valua-

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 93
We are now to direct our attention to a new and
very interesting characteristic of our artist, and con
sider him as a painter of animals. That the naive
instincts, agility, and vivacity of animals must have had
a great attraction for Rubens, is easily understood.
Those which are remarkable for courage, strength,
intelligence, swiftness, — as lions, tigers, wild boars,
wolves, horses, dogs,— particularly interested him. He
paid especial attention to animals, seized every opportu
nity of making studies of them from nature, and attained
the most wonderful skill and facility in painting them.
It is related that he caused a remarkably fine and
powerful lion to be brought to his house, in order
to study him in every variety of attitude.* By such
ble as those painted solely by his own hand. His well-known and cordial
friendship for both these painters lends them a kind of sentimental
interest. — A. J.
* Weyerman relates, vol. i. p. 287, that Rubens, once observing the lion
yawn, was so pleased with this action that he wished to paint it, and he
desired the keeper to tickle the animal under the chin to make him re
peatedly open his jaws ; at length the lion became savage at this treat
ment, and cast such furious glances at his keeper that Rubens attended to
his warning, and had the beast removed. The keeper is said to have been
torn to pieces by the lion shortly afterwards ; apparently he had never for
gotten the affront.

94 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
means he succeeded in seizing and portraying the
peculiar character and instincts of animals — their quick
movements and manifestations of strength, with such
perfect truth and energy, that not one among the
more modern painters has approached him in this re
spect.* His pictures of this class, whether they
represent animals alone, or engaged in various com
bats with men, are worthy of great admiration, and
have been always highly valued. Many subjects
taken from the Bible, or from mythology and history,
* If this had been written after his visit to England, Dr. Waagen would
have excepted Edwin Landseer. Every one who has observed the habits
of animals, must acknowledge that they have not only strength, intelli
gence, vivacity — the faculties so admired, and so admirably, so energetically
rendered by Rubens, but that the generic characteristics of a species are
modified by education aud individual temperament, as in the human race ;
that they have not only instincts but sympathies — not only attachments
but sentiments. It is the perfect comprehension of the morale of animal
life which has enabled Landseer to give to his animal paintings not only
the most vigorous truth of life and nature and movement, but a sort of
poetical and dramatic interest, of which his deer-stalking scenes, his
" Group of the Queen's Dogs," his " Jack in Office," the " Shepherd's
Grave," the " Highland Nurse," and many others, are instances. Even
his splendid portrait ofthe Newfoundland dog, the " Distinguished Member
of the Humane Society," may be called dramatic in conception, for does
it not immediately suggest a before and after ? — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 95
in which animals act a prominent part, may be men
tioned here.
Amongst these, Daniel in the Lions' Den, is a cele
brated picture ; it was in the possession of the Duke
of Hamilton in Scotland, in Descamps' time.* Samson
slaying the Lion ;f David strangling a Bear, a dead lion
and a strangled ramj completing the group. Ano
ther subject of this class, the Hunting ofthe Caledo
nian Wild-boar, has been repeated by Rubens in two
famous pictures of large size, one at Vienna,|| the other
at St. Petersburg.^ The first of these is admirable
for the expression of strength and rage in the ani
mal, and of the various impulses which urge on his
pursuers. As belonging to the historical class, the picture
in the Capitol at Rome, Romulus and Remus, suckled
by a she- wolf, is most spirited and well conceived.^
But I must now mention the hunting-pieces in
the proper sense. In these, huntsmen, mounted or
* DeBcamps' Vies des Peintres, torn. i. p. 326. Engraved by M. de
Leeuw t Etched by Quellinus. J Engraved by Pannels.
§ Engraved by Van Kessel. || Engraved by Earlom.
H Engraved by an unknown hand.

96 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
on foot, but generally the former, are represented in
furious combat with wild beasts, particularly with lions :
the figures are usually the size of life. The most ad
mirable works of this class which have come under my
own observation are :
The Lion Hunt, in the Dresden Gallery* The
fury of one of the lions, which has sprung upon the
hind quarters of a gray horse, and is tearing down the
rider, whose pallid features express the extremity of
terror, is wonderfully painted. A lioness, busy in
carrying away her young in her mouth, forms an excel
lent contrast to this wild group.
Another Lion Hunt, in the Munich Gallery. Three
riders, whose horses are plunging violently, are attack
ing with their lances a powerful lion, which, in his fury,
tears a fourth rider to pieces ; his horse stands para
lysed with fear. One huntsman on foot is already
dead, another is hard pressed by a she-wolf, but is
rescued by a third from his perilous situation.^
The celebrated Wolf Hunt, painted in the year
1612, for the Spanish General Legranes, and which at
a later period was inherited by the Counts Altamira, and
* Engraved by Van Snyderhoef.
t Engraved by S. a. Bolswert. A lithograph of the same is in the work
on the Munich Gallery, by Piloty.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 97
removed to Madrid, in which city it was seen and
admired by Madame de Humboldt. In this' picture,
which Rubens finished only three years after his
return from Italy, his bold creative fancy and dramatic
turn of mind are remarkably conspicuous. The rage
of one of the wolves, which has seized in its mouth the
point of the spear with which it is attacked, the fiery
courage of a splendid dapple gray steed, on which Ru
bens himself is mounted, are expressed with inimitable
life and truth; Catherine Brant, the first wife of
Rubens, on a brown horse and with a falcon on her hand,
is near her husband ; a second huntsman on horseback,
three on foot, another old wolf, and three young ones,
with several dogs, complete this admirable composi
tion, which is most carefully painted in a clear and
powerful tone throughout, whilst the flesh parts are
well kept down.* This picture was purchased at
Paris for 50,000 francs by John Smith, a dealer in
works of art, and is at present in the rich collection
of Lord Ashburton in London, f
A Boar Hunt, in the Dresden Gallery, and another
* Engraved by Soutmann, and also by Van der Leeuw.
t An excellent duplicate of this picture is in the possession of Lord
Methuen, at Corsham-house. ri

98 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
in Munich, must also be noticed, although the animals
in the latter were painted by Snyders.
Amongst his other hunting-pieces, known through
the engravings of them, one is worthy of particular
notice: three mounted hunters are attacking a hip
popotamus and a crocodile ; the latter has torn one
of the huntsmen to the earth. The whole composi
tion is in the highest degree wild and fantastic, and
wonderful for expression and spirit.*
Among those pictures of which the subjects are
devoted exclusively to animals, the most valuable are,
A painting at St. Petersburg, three lions the size of
life, two of them playing together : and a picture in
the Dresden Gallery; a tigress giving suck to her
young ; near to her are another tigress and a lion, and
in the distance a lion-hunt.
Of the other studies and compositions of this class
of subjects, four engravings by A. Blonteling, and
two by Hollar, after drawings by Rubens, afford the
most favourable specimens.

* Engraved by Soutmann and by Van der Leeuw. According to John
Smith, this picture was to be seen at Schleisheim, near Munich, but when
I visited that gallery I did not find it.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 99
Rubens, like Titian, has in many of his historical
pictures given sufficient proof of being a landscape
painter ; but like him, too, he finished a great number
of landscapes, properly so called, no less than thirty-
six of which have been engraved ; and it is necessary
to become acquainted with these before he can be
thoroughly appreciated in this department of painting.
It is very remarkable how much the same character of
mind is expressed in these works, which we find
displayed in his historical creations. His landscapes
are of more or less value according as the dramatic,
the fantastic, or the portrait-like pastoral predomi
nates ; yet all are alike in the characteristic energy of
the conception, and freedom and breadth of execution.
His dramatic landscapes show the delight he took in
representing tempests of thunder and lightning, the
rage of the whirlwind, the elements in their most
fearful commotion. Of these the following are par
ticularly worthy of note.
First, a landscape, in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna.
At the command of Jupiter, destruction falls upon the
impious villagers, who have refused a hospitable
reception to himself and Mercury : lightning darts
\ through the broken clouds, foaming torrents flood the
h 2

100 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
wide valley, bearing along in their course the bodies
of drowned animals ; Philemon and Baucis stand
on a well-wooded hill in calm security, and contem
plate the fearful spectacle to which the two gods are
directing their attention.*
Secondly, a highly poetic landscape : in the fore
ground Ulysses is imploring the protection of Nau-
sicaa : in the background the waves are still swelling
from the effects of the storm which has cast Ulysses
on the beach, and the black clouds are discharging
their lightning on the lofty rocks. In the horizon
the glorious beams of the rising sun announce a
splendid day, and to Ulysses the end of all his suf-
ferings.f The Shipwreck of iEneas on the Strymphades,
taken from the third book of the iEneid. A vessel
is cast by the foaming ocean against a rock, on the
craggy summit of which stands a lighthouse. Two
sailors are still in the sinking ship ; some are climbing
up the shore, whilst others are warming themselves
by a fire : the glorious dawn breaking from the east
lights up the dark storm-clouds and the raging sea.
* Engraved by S. a Bolswert.
+ I believe this picture is in the Pitti Gallery at Florence.  A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 101
This grand picture is in the possession of Mr. Hope
in London.*
In the secondary class of landscapes — those possess
ing that pastoral character which we have already re
marked in his historical works, as proceeding from the
inspiration of the moment, — Rubens delighted in giving
us the scenery of his native country in all its peculiar
aspects : wide plains, in which meadows and fields, with
woods and solitary trees, relieve each other ; the whole
enlivened by various kinds of animals and country
people at work. To him belonged a peculiar power
of throwing all the magic of poetry and variety over
the monotonous character of such scenes, chiefly
through the admirable manner in which he arranged
the lights. No one knew better how to produce
the full effect of contrasted light and shade. Parts
of his pictures are resplendent with the broad golden
rays of the sun breaking through the clouds, whilst,
in other parts, the shadows repose in dark masses of
gloom. One of the finest works of this class is the pic
ture known by the name of " Prairie de Lacken."
While gazing on this beautiful picture, we are trans
ported in fancy to the enchanting fields of Brabant, in
* Engraved by S. a. Bolswert.

102 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the neighbourhood of Brussels ; the fresh green of the
trees, the dewy verdure of the rich meadows, glisten
in the sunbeams which burst through the light
clouds: amongst the numerous figures in the fore
ground, two peasant girls, one of whom is carrying a
basket of fruit on her head, are particularly attractive.
No landscape by Rubens is to be compared with this
one in the careful execution of all the parts, and very
few approach it in the power, brilliance, and freshness
of the colouring. It is at present in the royal collection
in Windsor Castle.* The same gallery contains a
larger landscape, which is even grander in conception,
and richer in the numerous villages, country-houses,
meadows, and water, which are displayed in a large
plain.-f- Another landscape, of a very similar charac
ter, in the National Gallery ,J is, if possible, still more
poetical and beautiful. This is the celebrated " Land
scape after a Shower," all trembling in dewy light,
and breathing freshness into one's very soul. Rubens
sometimes added to the effect of his landscapes by in-
* Engraved by Van Uden, and by J. Neefs.
t Engraved by Browne, under the title" Going to Market." Etched by
Van Kessel.
J Engraved by George Cooke.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 103
troducing a rainbow, as is seen in two pictures, one at
Paris, the other at Munich ; or the lingering roseate
tints of evening, and the rising moon, contend for
mastery, and form a lovely contrast ; as in a beautiful
picture now at St. Petersburg.
Lastly, there are two remarkable pictures by Rubens,
(he seems to have left no aspect of nature unattempted,)
which represent falling snow and the starlight hea
vens. The first, which is at Windsor, exhibits an open
cowhouse, in which a peasant family is assembled
round a fire, or otherwise occupied. In this picture
the separate flakes of snow are given.* In the other
picture, now in the possession of the Poet Rogers, the
moon is reflected in water, and the firmament is
studded'with stars.
Rubens, who was gifted with no common powers of
observation, who had lived in various countries, and
mingled with different classes of society, must have
remarked a thousand things in the common inter
course of social life, which afforded material for his
ready and fertile pencil. Thus he painted a number
of tableaux de genre, which are preferable to most
* Engraved by Clouet.

104 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
works of this class, owing to a larger style of concep
tion, and more freedom and breadth of execution than
are usually found in them. In many of these, the dra
matic turn of his mind is apparent ; in others, his
taste for rural or domestic life,
In the dramatic style, those compositions taken from
the history of the middle ages are particularly attrac
tive ; and above all others I must notice a picture,
now in the Palacio Nuevo at Madrid, and described
by Mad. de Humboldt. It represents that incident in
the life of Rudolph of Hapsburg, which Schiller has
so beautifully commemorated in his well-known ballad
" Der Graf von Hapsburg :"* the figures are about one-
third the size of life. An aged priest, whose venerable
* According to the tradition alluded to, Rudolph of Hapsburg, the
founder of the Austrian dynasty, being on one of his warlike expeditions,
encountered a poor priest who had been called to administer the last
sacrament to a dying peasant. The rivers had been swollen by a great
storm, so that the priest was unable to pursue his journey. The Count,
finding him in this perplexity, mounted him on his own horse, and reve
rently accompanied him on his sacred mission. Schiller has told this
pretty story with his usual grace, but the picture of Rubens is undoubt
edly more animated and dramatic. The humorous and most charac
teristic addition of the perplexed Sacristan is apparently his own invention.
1 have never seen any engraving of this picture. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 105
features are seen in profile, is mounted on a brown horse,
his -hat under his arm, and holding with both hands
the Host before him. He has abandoned the guidance
,of the horse to the Count of Hapsburg, who holds the
reyis in his right hand, and walks beside him bareheaded,
and with downcast eyes : his fine manly countenance,
seen nearly in front, has the anftpst. P-rpr^a""" nf hn.
mility and devotional feeling. Behind these rides the
Sacristan, mounted on a gray horse, which is led by
the Count's esquire ; the attitude and expression ofthe
holy man are in humorous contrast with the interest
and solemnity of the first group. Alarmed at a vio
lent movement of his steed, which has drawn in its
hind legs, and planted its fore feet firmly on the
ground, he has raised up his own feet, and, being about
to fall off, has thrown his left hand over the neck of his
horse, to catch hold of its conductor, who, on his part,
has grasped the reins near the bit, and attempts to
hold in the horse. In his right hand the Sacristan car
ries a lantern, the door of which has opened, and he
unconsciously pricks the horse's flank with its pointed
edge, which increases the animal's restiveness. The ex
pression of the face is in thorough keeping with the at
titude, without descending to the low comic ; each phy-

106 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
siognomy is marked by the strongest individuality,
and the execution is exquisitely and minutely finished ;
a thing uncommon with Rubens.
Next to this, the picture in the Royal Gallery at
Paris is most worthy of being mentioned : the subject
is a tournament in the neighbourhood of a castle :
amid the flourishing of trumpets six knights are en
gaged in violent combat ; the issue is still undecided
with two pair of combatants ; one of the third pair,
however, is already cast to the ground ; two of the
squires of the lists are occupied in gathering up the
broken lances ; the sun, setting amid floating clouds,
tinges the warriors and the hilly country with a deep
glow, and forms a striking contrast with the subdued
tones of the rest of the picture.
Other works of this class are, properly speaking,
grotesques, and represent scenes of low life. By far
the best picture of this kind is the celebrated village
fete in the Louvre. A boisterous merry party, of about
seventy persons, assembled in front of a country ale
house ; several are wildly dancing in a circle ; others
are drinking and shouting ; others, again, are making
love. There is in this marvellous picture such a vivid
exhibition of jovial sensuality, such a glow of physical

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 107
life, and of the animal passions in all their activity, that
every other work of this class must appear tame and
heavy in comparison. At the same time the intellect
displayed in the treatment, the richness and brilliance
of the colouring, are worthy of the admirable skill and
invention displayed in the composition*
Straggling soldiers ill-treating a group of miserable
peasants, in the Munich Gallery, is a work of great
truth in character and conception, although executed
in a light and sketchy manner .-f-
Another class of tableaux de genre by Rubens, the
conversation and pastoral pieces, have a very remark
able charm ; and those amiable qualities of his mind,
which I have already remarked as expressed iu the
portraits of himself and his first wife, are here par
ticularly observable. The most excellent of these is
the famous picture known as the Garden of Love,
(styled by the Dutch, Venus's Court of Pleasure,!) 0I"
which so many duplicates exist ; but, according to the
testimony of those distinguished connoisseurs in art,
Sir David Wilkie and Mr. William Woodburn, the
* Engraved by Te3sard. t Engraved by F. van den Wyngaerdc.
t Venus Lusthof.

108 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
picture in the possession of the Duke Infantado at
Madrid must be the true original. Several loving-
couples, in familiar conversation, are lingering before
the entrance of a grotto, the front of which is orna
mented with a rustic portico. Amongst them we re
cognise the portraits of Rubens and his second wife,
his scholar Van Dyck, and Simon de Vos. One of
the women has a Cupid in her lap, she is preventing
a second from punishing him with a rod; another
little god of love is whispering in the ear of a fair
young girl ; attendant Loves are fluttering about,
amid blooming roses and orange trees: an inward
happiness and cheerful composure are impressed on
every countenance. The execution is careful, and at the
same time easy and full of spirit and feeling ; the co
louring of every part powerful and yet tender.*
Next to these may be mentioned two pictures which
* Engraved by Clouet. The picture of this subject in the Dresden
Gallery is eminently beautiful, and if not the first transcript of the
painter's idea, it must be called an original : it is certainly the genuine
work of Rubens's own mind and hand. What renders it yet more interest
ing and characteristic ofthe man, is the fact that he must have been nearly
sixty when he conceived this gay, charming, epicurean group, which affects
the sense and fancy like a bouquet of fresh-gathered flowers. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 109
were seen by Madame de Humboldt in the New
Palace at Madrid. In a room adorned with nume
rous pictures of religious and profane subjects, a fair
girl is seated before a table covered with flowers, gold
chains, and other ornaments ; her light blue under-
dress and yellow robe are very neatly arranged. With
her left arm resting on the table, she holds a small casket
of medals in her right hand, and contemplates her
self in a looking-glass placed before her: the flesh
tints in her arms and neck are beautiful and clear.
Cupid stands behind the table, and holds up the por
trait of a man. At the other end of the table stands
another female in red drapery, adorning herself with
flowers which a very pretty Cupid presents to her in
a basket : other flowers in vases, mingled with globes
and mathematical instruments, are scattered about the
room. The view in the background extends into a
gallery containing statues and pictures.
The other picture also represents the interior of
a room ornamented with paintings. A lady is seated
at a well-covered table, eating oysters, with much
expression of enjoyment : opposite to her are two
other females, one of whom holds a lyre, the other a
cat ; a servant is bringing fresh dishes ; behind the

110 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
lady is a sideboard: the room contains, besides, a
harpsichord and several musical instruments ; on the
ground a great number and variety of fowls.*
The admirable picture in the Munich Gallery, in
which he has represented himself walking in a garden
with his second wife and his son, must also be men
tioned here.
Having now considered Rubens as an artist in the
wide and general sense, uniting the most extraordi
nary versatility of power with unequalled fertility of
invention, it only remains for us to say a few words
of him as a portrait painter.
Rubens, in his historical works, has not escaped
the fate of all sketchers, — I mean of those artists
* The meaning and intention of these two pictures it were vain to
guess at in these latter times, and I cannot find that they have been
engraved. The above list of tableauw de genre from the pencil of Rubens might be
considerably enlarged, but I will merely mention here, as a proof that he
left no effect of nature unattempted, his well-known picture of " an old
woman and a boy, seen by candle-light," astonishing for its truth of
feeling and execution. It was brought to England about the year 1804
by Mr. Delahante, and afterwards sold to Mr. Duncombe for two thou
sand guineas. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. Ill
whose works have been the product of their own
imaginations alone, and who have neglected to re
fresh their minds by new contemplations of nature
in detail as any particular case occurred, making-
especial studies for the purpose ; the consequence of
which has been a certain monotony in their forms and
vacancy in their physiognomiesrwjth occasional exag
geration in the niarkuig_.of the char*"*-*"™ apd
expression. But that he dicL, not, like most other
¦arHsts who took this direction, lose the feeling to
appreciate, the power to render,_th^pjixeeHforms-and
truest aspects ot nature, is proved by several of
his tableaux de genre, and still more clearly by many
of his portraits. The quantity ofthe latter is so great
— about a hundred alone having been engraved — that
we can only mention here some of the most excel
lent. Many portraits of his earlier period are nearly allied
in conception and execution to the family portrait in
the Munich Gallery, which I have already praised so
highly. To the finest of this class belong the portraits
of Nicholas Rockox, the Burgomaster of Antwerp,
and his wife, Adriana Perez, which adorned the wings
of the picture of the Unbelief of St. Thomas, formerly

112 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
in the church of the Recollets at Antwerp, and now
forming part of the collection of the Academy there.
The simple and yet noble conception, so true to the
life — the steady execution, the colouring so warm, so
transparent, so full of nature, lend a high attraction
to this picture.*
Of a similar character, in many respects, is the
portrait of Elizabeth of Bourbon, the wife of Philip IV.
of Spain, in the Gallery of the Louvre : the concep
tion is very fine ; the union of precision with softness
in the forms, and the delicacy and feeling in the co
lour, the harmony as a whole, are most admirable.
But undoubtedly we must place in the first rank
the celebrated picture in the Palazzo Pitti, known
under the title of the Four Philosophers, and which
contains the portraits of Justus Lipsius, Hugo Grotius,
Philip and Peter Paul Rubens. The heads are all con
ceived with such life and spirit, the execution is so broad
and careful, that although Raphael's portrait of Leo X.,
and other works of the first Italian masters, hang in
the same room, the spectator dwells upon it with the
* " His is a fine portrait ; the ear is remarkably well painted, and
the anatomy of the forehead well understood. Her portrait has no merit
but that of colour." — Sir Joshua Reynolds.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 113
greatest satisfaction, and must acknowledge that it far
excels all the others in vigorous drawing and splendid
colouring.* The portrait of Rubens himselff in the
gallery of painters at Florence, which represents him
as a man of about forty, is also a work of great value,
and exhibits similar perfections.
But of all Rubens' portraits, perhaps, the most cele
brated is the one called the Chapeau de Paille, at
present the chief ornament of the fine collection of Sir
Robert Peel in London. No picture justifies more than
this the appellation which Rubens has obtained, ofthe
painter of light. No one who has not beheld this mas
terpiece of painting can form any conception of the
transparency and brilliancy with which the local colour
ing in the features and complexion, though under the
shadow of a broad-brimmed Spanish beaver hat, are
brought out and made to tell, while the different parts
are rounded and relieved with the finest knowledge
and use of reflected lights. The expression of those
youthful features beaming with cheerfulness, is so full
of life, and has such a perfect charm, that one is inclined
to believe the tradition, that Rubens fell in love with
* Engraved by Morel and Gregori.
t Engraved by Meulfneester and Gregori.

114 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
the original (a young girl of the Lundens family at
Antwerp) whilst she was sitting to him. The treat
ment throughout displays a master hand capable of
sporting with its subject and material. The very in
appropriate name of Chapeau de Paille can only have
been given to this picture in later days ; for, according
to the testimony of Mr. Nieuwenhuys, it was formerly
known in the Netherlands under the title " Net
Spaansch Hoedje."*
That even in his later days Rubens could relinquish
that fervid redundance of style for which he had
become remarkable, and lend to his conceptions all
* Engraved by Reynolds in mezzotinto. The countenance of this
Mademoiselle Lundens — " qui, dans son temps, passa pour la plus belle
personne des dix-sept Provinces," is not exceedingly captivating, rather
lively and shrewd than attractive and intellectual. The picture, as a
picture, is miraculous, — all but life itself. The bosom, as is usual with
Rubens, the least successful in the management. Rubens, during his life,
would never part with this picture ; — it is simply designated in his cata
logue as " le portrait d'une demoiselle, les bras croises." After the death
of his widow it passed into the possession of the Lunden family, whose
heir, M. Van Haveren, sold it in 1817 for 60,000 francs to another descen
dant of the family, M. Stiers d'Artselaar. At his death in 1822, it was
sold by auction, and purchased by Mr. Niewenhuys for 36,000 florins, and
brought to England, where, after being offered in vain to George IV., it
was bought by Sir Robert Peel for 3,500 guineas. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 115
the softer graces of the affections, to his execution the
most finished care, to his colouring all the modesty
of nature, is proved by a picture at Blenheim, repre
senting himself and his second wife, Helena Forman,
strolling in a flower-garden : she is conducting a child
in leading-strings. This representation of the innocent
domestic happiness enjoyed by a person of noble cha
racter, mature age, and distinguished station, strikes
tlie beholder so vividly, that it is sure to produce the
most agreeable and soothing impressions on the mind,
and I have no hesitation in pronouncing it one of
the most successful family pieces in tlie world.*
Of the numerous portraits which Rubens painted
of his second wife, I will only mention two as parti
cularly successful. In one of them, likewise at Blen
heim, she is walking in the open air, splendidly at
tired, and followed by her page ; the dazzling tone of
the flesh is particularly thrown out by a black border
on her dress : the whole picture is incomparable for
elegance and animation in design, as well as for
splendour in the colouring.T
* This picture was presented by tlie city of Brussels to the great Duke
of Marlborough.
t Engraved by M"Ardel.

116 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
In the other, which adorns the Imperial Gallery at
Vienna, she is entering her bath, and only partially
covered with a brown cloak. This is one of the most
exquisite portraits of this master, for the careful exe
cution and brilliancy of colouring.*
Another work, not less valuable than either of those
just mentioned, is the one in the Lichtenstein Gallery
at Vienna, containing the portraits of his two eldest
sons.j They are standing together in a confiding and
graceful attitude, the youngest displaying his childish
delight in the possession of a bird, the eldest holding
a book in his hand.J It is difficult to know whether
most to admire the life in the heads, the clearness
and force in the colouring, or the careful execution
and admirable impasto. §
* Engraved by Prenner. The execution of this picture is magical ; the
pellucid handling of the flesh, the exquisite complexion, and the redun
dant fair hair, the glow of life and youth, in contrast with the dark dra
pery, are wondrous ; and yet it is not a very attractive picture : the
attitude struck me as awkward, and the drapery as ungraceful. — A. J.
+ Engraved by Earlom.
% Albert and Nicholas, the only children by his first wife.
§ Engraved by Pichler.
Nothing conveys a more lively impression of the warm affections and
domestic character of Rubens, than the numerous pictures which exist of

HIS UFU AND GENUS. 117
Lastly, I must mention the portrait of that cele
brated collector of works of art, Thomas Howard,
Earl of Arundel, in the Bridgewater Gallery. He
is in armour, with a commander's truncheon in his
right hand. For delicacy in the drawing, and eleva
tion in the conception, this portrait is inferior to
none ; for depth and glow in tlie colouring, it is
perhaps superior to all.
Although Rubens was overwhelmed with important
his wives and children : ho seems to havo delighted in multiplying and
Mining theso loved objects under every variety of aspect. His two wires
were both handsome women, fair, full-formed Flemish beauties ; but, on
comparing their portraits, the countenance of Elizabeth Brant appears the
finer ofthe two. expressing a larger capacity of affection and intellect
than that of Helena Forman, whom Rubens married at the age of fifty-
six, and on whose juvenile charms (she was then only sixteen) he appears
to have doted. In addition to the family pictures enumerated by Dr.
Waagen. may be mentioned that exquisite portrait of Elizabeth Brant,
with her infant son. now in the Munich Gallery ; the full-length portrait
of his eldest daughter. Clara-Eugenia, when about eight years old, in the
collection ofthe late Mr. «in Scharops. at Ghent: a sumptuous picture
for etleet and colour. Clara-Eugenia married Philip van Farys. and
from her the family of that name are descended. Also a portrait of his
youngest daughter. Elizabeth, a buxom baby dressed in velvet and point-
lace, and playing with toys, now in the Museum at Frankfort. She after
wards became a nun. — A. .1.

118 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
commissions from princes, heads of religious houses,
and private individuals, in all the civilised countries
of Europe, yet he did not disdain to occupy himself
with things of comparatively small value ; he wished to
promote a taste for art in all classes of society. Thus
we possess engravings from eight drawings by his hand
for a missal, which was published by Moretus ; seventy-
eight more from the legend of St. Ignatius of Loyola ;
fifty-eight for title-pages to different books ; and a
number more for emblematical representations, vig
nettes, lamps, &c. Rubens employed many of the prin
cipal copperplate engravers of his day, under his own
eyes, that he might thus be able to extend a knowledge
of his most valuable works far and wide in a manner
worthy of them. This plan so far succeeded, that the
peculiar and characteristic beauties of his works have
been rendered in a more surprising and admirable
manner by such engravers as P. Pontius, L, Vorster-
mann, S. a. Bolswert, and Soutmann, than by any later
engravers. Not only have they most successfully ren
dered the excellent keeping and striking effect of
the originals, but they have contrived most happily to
imitate the peculiar treatment, and especially the
brilliant light, in the flesh parts. Rubens himself

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 119
made some attempts at engraving ; amongst them a
St. Catharine, (from a painting for a ceiling,) and the
portrait of a man in a fur dress, are the most valuable,
and are treated in a very picturesque style.
Like other great painters, he was an architect too,
and, besides his own house, the church and the college
of the Jesuits in Antwerp were built from his designs.
He proved^ however, in this department, that he was
not free from the taste for exaggeration and excess
of ornament common in his time.
We are able to form some estimate of the astonish
ingly productive powers of Rubens, when we consider
that about a thousand of his works have been en
graved.* The extraordinary number of his paintings
adorn not merely the most celebrated public and pri
vate galleries, and various churches in Europe, but
they have even found their way to America : in
Lima especially there are several, and some of them
of considerable value and excellence .f Yet of the
* Including copies, the number of engravings from works of Rubens
amount to more than one thousand five hundred.
1 1 have to thank his Excellency Alexander von Humboldt for the
#
communication.

120 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
countless pictures everywhere attributed to Rubens,
but a small proportion were entirely painted by his
own hand ;* the others contain more or less of the
workmanship of his pupils. Amongst these latter
there exist remarkable distinctions, and they may be
classed principally as follows : —
I. Pictures by Rubens himself, in which his pupils
executed some of the less important parts.
II. Pictures which the pupils of Rubens painted
after sketches by him, and to which he added here
and there a few finishing strokes.
III. Copies of his pictures painted by his pupils,
which he occasionally retouched..
IV. Paintings by very indifferent artists,, made from
engravings after Rubens, of which, according to
Weyermann,f an enormous number were fabricated
at Antwerp, and passed off upon Germans and Poles
as originals by Rubens.J
* The greatest number of works begun and finished by his own hand
are to be found in the galleries of Madrid, Antwerp, and Blenheim.
¦j; Weyermann, vol. i. p. 268.
X We can now estimate the great difficulty of compiling a true critical
catalogue of the genuine works by Rubens : and must, therefore, do justice
to the zeal and diligence displayed in the work by Mr. John Smith,
although many faults may be found in it.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 121
It is principally owing to these last that we too
often associate the ideas of Rubens with all that is
coarse, rude, vulgar, and devoid of feeling, by wliich
means this great painter has been unjustly depre
ciated. But, even amongst those who are capable of esti
mating the peculiar greatness of Rubens, how many
are there who, judging by the greater number of his
pictures, are disposed to consider him as an artist who
was governed and hurried onwards solely by his fiery
and unbridled imagination, and who had never reflected
calmly and maturely on the principles and nature of
his art ! — and yet it is certain that very few of the
more modern artists have so thoroughly understood
the peculiar laws of the style they had adopted, and
have made such well-digested and admirable remarks
upon it, as Rubens. Still less, however, should we
expect that Rubens, whose delineation of form differs
so widely from the antique, had studied the latter
with the greatest zeal, and that he entertamed
the loftiest ideas respecting ancient art. These
facts, joined to his works, prove most incontrovertibly
that Rubens was all that an artist can be — in one
word, a genius. For, like the ocean, which ever

122 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
remains calm and still in its inmost recesses, whatever
storms may sweep over its surface, thus with an artist
of genius, that excitable element, the imagination,
can be moved by a thousand appropriate incidents
to the most affecting and passionate creations, whilst
the mind within maintains its powers clear and undis
turbed. Genius has also this attribute, that it is
powerfully attracted and easily inspired by whatever
j is excellent ; but, at the same time, that which is fo-
reign to the natural turn, or what we should call the
Wiginal temperament of genius, however admirable it
may be, can never disturb it in its productions. I
do not mean to assert that the studies which
Rubens made from the antique were without all in
fluence on his own art ; but it is evident that they
.only influenced him through the truth and life and

— *l>» intellectual power which characterise the an-
„. cient works of art, apart from the beauty of form.
The most conspicuous proof of that deep insight into
the nature of his art which Rubens possessed, and of
his accurate study ofthe antique, is contained in a short
Latin essay written by him, in which he expresses his
sentiments on this subject, and how far he can recom
mend painters to study the ancient statues. De Piles

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 123
has the merit of printing this essay from a manuscript
in the Latin language* I shall give here the most
important part in a free translation, but add in a note
the Latin text, which has great originality of expres
sion .f
* See De Piles, " Cours de Peinture par Principes." There does not ap
pear to me any sufficient ground for doubting the genuineness of this
essay, as some have done.
t " Aliis utilissima, aliis damnosa usque ad exterminium artis. Concludo
tamen ad summam ejus perfectionem esse necessariam earum intelligen-
tiam, imo imbibitionem, sed judiciose applicandum earum usum et omnino
citra saxum. Nam plures imperiti et etiam periti non distinguunt mate-
riam. a forma, saxum a figura, nee necessitatem marmoris ab artificio.
Una autem maxima est statuarum optimas utilissimas, ut viles inutiles
esse, vel etiam damnosas ; nam tyrones ex iis nescio quid crudi, terminati
et difficilis molestaeque anatomis dum trahunt videntur proficere, sed in
opprobium natura, dum pro carne marmor coloribus tantum represen-
tant. Multa sunt enim notanda imo et vitanda etiam in optimis acciden
tia citra culpam artificis ; prajcipue differentia umbrarum, cum caro,
pellis, cartilago sua diaphanitate multa leniant praecipitia in statuis ne-
gredinis et umbra;, quas sua densitate saxum duplicat inexorabiliter
obvium. Adde quasdam maccaturas ad omnes motus variabiles et facili
tate pellis aut dimissas aut contractas a statuariis vulgo evitatas, optimis
tamen aliquando admissas, pictura? certo sed cum moderatione necessa-
rias. Lumine etiam ab omni humanitate alienissimw differunt lapideo
splendore et aspera luce superficies magis elevante ae par est, aut saltern
oculos fascinante. Ac quisquis sapienti discretione separaverit, statuas

124 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
" For some painters this is of the greatest use ;
" for others ruinous, to the utter destruction of their
" art. I am convinced, however, that to reach the
•" highest degree of perfection as a painter, it is ne-
" cessary not only to be acquainted with the ancient
" statues, but we must be inwardly imbued with the~
" thorough comprehension of them. An insight into
" the laws which pertain to them is necessary before
" they can be turned to any real account in paint-
" ing ; this will prevent the artist from transplanting
" to the canvass that which in sculpture is dependent
" on the material employed : marble for instance, &c.
¦' Many inexperienced, and indeed experienced painters,
" do not distinguish the material from the form which
" it expresses, the stone from the figure which is
" carved in it : that which the artist forces from the
" dead marble, from the universal and intrinsic laws i
" of art which are independent of it. One leading rule
cominus amplectetur. Nam quid in hoc erroneo saeculo degeneres pos-
sumus ? Quam vilis genius nos humi detinet ab heroico illo imminutos
ingenio judicio !" — After this, the essay contains only general speculations
on the causes of the present degeneracy of the human race, and gives
very justly, as the principal ones, the imperfect developement of the
human frame in latter days, through idleness and sensuality ; whereas
the ancients had their gymnastic exercises.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 125
" may be laid down, that, inasmuch as the best statues
" of antiquity are of great value for the painter, the
" inferior ones are not only worthless, but mischie-
" vous ;;,for whilst beginners fancy they perform won-
" ders if they can borrow from these statues, and trans-
" plant something hard, heavy, with sharp outlines and
" an exaggerated anatomy to their canvasTpthis can
" only be done by outraging the truth of nature,
" since, instead of representing flesh with colours, they
" do but give colour to marble.
" In studying even the best antique statues, the
" painter must consider and avoid many things which
" are not connected with the art of the sculptor, but
" solely with the material in which he worked. I
" may mention particularly the difference in the
" shading. In nature, owing to the transparency of
" the flesh, the skin, and the cartilages, the shading
" of many parts is moderated, which in sculpture ap-
" pear hard and abrupt, for the shadows become
" doubled, as it were, owing to the natural and un-
" avoidable thickness of the stone. To this must be
" added, that certain less important parts which lie
" on the surface of the human body, as the veins,

126 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
" small folds of the skin* which change their ap-
" pearance with every movement, and which, owing
" to the pliancy of the skin, become easily extended or
" contracted, are not expressed at all in the works of
" sculptors in general, though it is true that sculptors
" of high talent have marked them in some degree,
" The painter, however, must never omit to introduce
" them, making use of proper discretion.f In the
" manner, too, in which the lights fall, statues are
" totally different from nature, for the natural bril-
" liancy of marble, and its own light, throws out the
" surface far more strongly than in nature, and even
" dazzles the eye. He who has thoroughly attended
" to these differences cannot do better than devote
," himself, with all his energy, to the study of the
A " antique statues. For what can we degenerate mor-
" tals do in these perverse times 1 How great is the
" contrast between the petty spirit which chains us
* This, I believe, is the meaning of the word maccatura, which doubt
less is connected with the Italian word macca, superfluity. It is not
to be found in the glossary of Duchange. — Waagen.
t It is one of the faults of Rubens that he has often introduced these
accidental effects of nature without discretion. His draperies, also, as
Sir Joshua Reynolds has well remarked, are not sufficiently ideal : it is not
properly drapery in the artistic sense, but Bilk, satin, or woollen. — A. J.

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 127
" to the world and its cares, and that sublime, almost
" instinctive insight into the very life and soul of nature
" which the ancients possessed !"
What grand ideas Rubens had formed of the an
cient Greek painters, are apparent from a passage in
his letter to Hadrian Junius, dated August 1, 1637,
in which he thanks the latter for having sent him his
work on the painting ofthe ancients.* After lament
ing how insufficient and deceitful the conceptions must
be which we form through mere written accounts of
the ancient Greek painters, he continues, " For who
" amongst us, if he were to attempt in reality to repre-
" sent a celebrated work of Apelles or Timanthus, such
" as Pliny describes them, but would produce some-
* This letter, of which the beginning and conclusion are in the Dutch
language, but the rest ^in Latin, is to be found in several editions of
Junius, particularly in the Rotterdam edition of 1694, in Weyermann,
and the Latin, too, in Fiorillo. The extract above stands thus in the
original : — " Nam quotusquisque nostrum si prseclarum ali quod Apellis aut
Timanthis opus a Plinio aut aliis auctoribus graphice deseriptum, pro rei
dignitate oralis subjicere tentatus, aliquid non insulsum aut a veterum
majestate non alienum prsestabit ; sed genio suo quisque indulgens, mus-
teum aliquid pro Opimiano illo dulce amaro promit, et injuriam magnis
illis manibus affert, quos ego veneratione summa prosequor, et vestigia
euntium potius adoro, quam vel sola cogitatione assequi me posse ingenue
profiteor.

128 PETER PAUL RUBENS,
" thing absurd, or perfectly foreign to the exalted
" greatness ofthe ancients? Each one, relying on his
" own powers, would produce some wretched, crude,
" unfermented stuff, instead of an exquisite old wine,
" uniting strength and mellowness, outraging those
" great spirits whom I endeavour reverently to follow,
" satisfied, however, to honour the marks of their
" footsteps, instead of supposing — I acknowledge it
" candidly — that I can ever attain to their eminence,
" even in mere conception."
With such views, his predilection for ancient works
of art was naturally very great. He caused drawings
to be made of the most -valuable antique monuments
in Rome and Lombardy, and he intended to publish a
work containing engravings of the finest antique
cameos ; for which six plates, with twenty-one cameos,
(among them, the Gems Augustea and Tiberiana,)
were found ready after his death.
However pressing his occupations, Rubens allowed
nothing to interrupt the continuance of studies con
nected with the scientific departments of his art, as
perspective, optics, anatomy, and the rules of propor
tion. A book was found amongst the property he left
behind him, containing written remarks on these sub-

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 129
jects, accompanied with drawings.* This book con
tained, besides, a great number of interesting studies :
men and women, actuated by various motives and iih-r,
pulses, according to the influence of different passions
and particular circumstances : and sketches after paint
ings by Raphael and other artists, with passages from
Virgil and the poets, who had treated of the same
subjects written underneath, by way of comparison.
As Rubens united to such great and various know
ledge the disposition to communicate it to others in
the most friendly and candid manner, it was natural
that young painters of talent, who were admitted into
his atelier, should soon attain a high degree of skill
and cultivation. The number of pupils formed under
* This book is said to be in Paris, and an edition of it was to have
been published in the year 1744. (Catal. raisonne de M. Quintin de
POrangerie, par Fr. Gersaint.) A copy, made with the most laborious
fidelity by a Mr. Johnson, was presented to the Antiquarian Society
of London. The work " ThSorie de la figure humaine, &c, ouvrage tra-
duit du Latin de P. P. Rubens, avec XLIV. planches d'apres les desseins
de ce celebre artiste," (Paris, 1703-4,) is probably but an extract from the
book mentioned above. Another book of studies was published by Paul
Pontius, in 20 sheets. A third, containing the studies of thirty-one
heads, is engraved by Count Caylus ; the title falsely attributes them to
Van Dyck, though only two of the heads are after him. — See Basan,
p. 244. K

13U PETER PAUL RUBENS,
his tuition was very great ; and although no one
amongst them inherited his creative powers and his
brilliant imagination, they all resembled him more or
less in his manner of viewing nature, in his style of
colouring, and in his admirable technical skill, It is
easy to become convinced of this in a most agreeable
manner by paying a visit to the Chateau, in a wood
not far from the Hague. A saloon in this Chateau has
been decorated by the pupils of Rubens, in the man
ner of the fresco-paintings of interiors in Italy. The
object of the whole is the glorification of the House
of Orange, by means of allegorical figures and por
traits. The principal picture, one of the largest oil-
paintings in the world, is from the pencil of J.
Jordaens, and represents the triumph of Prince Fre
derick Henry : the keeping and effect of this admi
rable work, in which the four grays drawing the
triumphal chariot of the prince are most strikingly
painted, are wonderful. The next in rank is a Quos
ego, likewise by Jordaens. Only one of the pictures
was executed by Rubens himself, the Forge of the
Cyclops, very brown in tone. Most of the other
pictures are by the hand of Theodore Van Thulden,
who in these works has emulated his illustrious

HIS LIFE AND GENIUS. 131
master in the force and brilliance of his colour
ing : the same may be said of a picture by Van Dyck.
If Rubens, therefore, caused his style of painting in
the historical department to become general in the
Netherlands, through these and other masters, of whom
we will here only enumerate Caspar de Krayer, a con
temporary, whose style was freely formed after that of
Rubens, Peter Van Moi, Abraham Diepenbeck, Cor
nelius Schut, and Erasmus Quellinus ; so in the
other branches of painting, there was not one over
which he did not exercise, directly or indirectly, a
powerful influence, As painters of animals and hunt
ing-pieces, Franz Snyders, Paul de Vos, Jan Fyt,
and, in their large pictures, the two brothers Weenix,
followed in his footsteps. His manner of treating
portraits was still farther perfected by Van Dyck,
who was imitated again by Cornelius de Vos, and*
others, and even by Kneller and Sir Peter Lely.
Through another pupil, David Teniers the elder, a
new path — that of the humorous or grotesque — was
struck out and' followed up to a degree of perfection
never since attained. Pictures like that of the above-
mentioned " Garden of Love" had, without doubt, a
decided influence on the earlier painters of the so-

132 PETER PAUL RUBENS.
styled conversation-pieces, on Terburg* and Gerard
Dow, for instance, who painted scenes of jdomestic and
elegant life with exquisite perfection, and inimitable
finish of execution. And, lastly, in landscape-paint
ing, his pupil Wildens was followed by Jacob Van
Artois and Huysman in grandeur of conception ; while
Lucas Van Uden, in the faithful and masterly de
lineation of the scenery of his native land, was, the
precursor of Everdingen, Ruysdael, and Waterloo.
Thus was the art of painting, in the Netherlands, re
modelled in every department by the energies of a
single great and gifted mind. Thus was Rubins the
originator of its second great epoch, to which we are
indebted for such numerous and masterly performances
in every branch of the art.

THE END.

-LONDON:
1B0TS0N AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.