Rubens Velasquez

8/4/2019 Rubens Velasquez

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Treaty of Munster Spain was a major military power in Europe and used its power to back the might of the

Catholic Church especially in Northern Europe where Protestantism was gaining moreand more ground.

This is a time of conflict when the Netherlands was trying to free itself from Spanishdomination

A truce agreement in 1609 divided the Netherlands into two areas Flanders remained Catholic and in the Spanish fold and the two countries had in

common the religious idealism of the counter-reformation Today the northern part of Flanders is known as Holland and The South which today has become Belgium


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Counter-reformation.

This was a reaction within thecatholic Church to the reformation

The Roman Church felt itself in

need of reform and try to win backlost territory

Pope Paul III (1465-1549)summoned the council of Trent

This reinforced fundamentalCatholic doctrines such as theimmaculate conception the worshipof Mary and martyrs and relics etc.


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Ignatius of Loyola (1491 1556) Emerged as a religious leader

during the Counter-Reformation. Ignatius and a few followers

bound themselves by vows of

poverty, chastity, and obedience.In 1539, they formed the Societyof Jesus, approved in 1540 byPope Paul III,

After being seriously wounded in

1521, he underwent a spiritualconversion while in recovery.

During his period ofconvalescence in 1521, Ignatiusread a series of religious texts,and became fired with an

ambition to emulate the heroicdeeds of Francis of Assisi andother great monastics.

Decided abandon his previousmilitary life and devote himself tolabour for God

Ignatius by Peter Paul Rubens


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Henry IV (1553 1610) King of France from 1589 to 1610 and

King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the

Bourbon branch of the Capetian

dynasty in France. Huguenot - Henry was involved in the

Wars of Religion before ascending thethrone in 1589.

Before his coronation as King of

France at Chartres, he changed hisfaith from Calvinism to Catholicismand, in 1598, he enacted the Edict ofNantes, which guaranteed religiousliberties to the Protestants, therebyeffectively ending the civil war.

One of the most popular French kings,both during and after his reign, Henryshowed great care for the welfare of hissubjects and displayed an unusualreligious tolerance for the time.

He was assassinated by a fanatical

Catholic, Franois Ravaillac.


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Franois Ravaillac

Stabbed the king to death in Rue de laFerronnerie, while his coach's progress wasstopped by traffic congestion for the Queen's

coronation His widow, Marie de' Medici, served as regent

for their 9-year-old son, Louis XIII, until 1617. Franois Ravaillac 1578 1610 Obsessed by religion, somewhat unstable

character he sought admission into variousreligious catholic orders including the Jesuitsbut was not successful

In 1609, Ravaillac claimed to have experienceda vision instructing him to convince KingHenry IV to convert the Huguenots to

Catholicism. Between Pentecost 1609 and May1610, Ravaillac made three separate trips toParis to tell his vision to the king.

Unable to meet the king, Ravaillac interpretedHenry's decision to invade the SpanishNetherlands as the start of a war against the

Pope. Determined to stop him, he decided tokill the king.


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The Infamous eventtaking place on 14May 1610

He wasimmediatelyapprehendedincarcerated

And tortured To reveal his

accomplices But repeatedly

claimed to havebeen working onhis own

On May 27taken to the Place de Grve in Paris and was tortured before beingpulled apart by four horses, a method of execution reserved for regicides.Alistair Horne describes the torture Ravaillac suffered: "Before being drawn and quartered...

he was scalded with burning sulphur, molten lead and boiling oil and resin, hisflesh then being torn by pincers." Following his execution, Ravaillac's parents

were forced into exile, and the rest of his family was ordered never to use thename "Ravaillac" again.


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Marie de Medici (15751642)

Marie de Medici was the widowedQueen mother of France

She was in effect the ruler of Francewhilst her underage son Louis XIIIwas growing up.

When he became of age she wasunable to accept her son as amature adult and clung to her

regency status The French court was beset with a

political power play between thetwo.

Louis was forced to exile his motherto the provinces and she was not

allowed to return until 1620.Shemoved into the Luxembourg Palaceon the Seine and for the next fiveyears her main preoccupation wasthe refurbishment of the Palace.


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The Marie de' Medici cycle

Rubens was by this time themost sought after andprosperous artist in Europe

Known for his monumentalreligious paintings

However this prstige fromthis particular commissionwas to set him up forsuccess for the rest of hiscareer.

Originally the paintings werehung clockwise inchronological order,decorating the walls of awaiting room expandingfrom a royal apartment inMarie de' Medici'sLuxembourg Palace.

The paintings are nowdisplayed in the same order

in the Louvre Various self Portraits by Rubens


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The Apotheosis of Henry IV Louvre Paris

To commission two vast cycles entailing some 48 vast canvases altogether One was to illustrate the Romance and triumph of her career The other was to illustrate the events of her late husband She was not beautiful and was overweight, her husband was heroic but the

only work that was completed was the cycle focussing on her.

No artist could have achieved this without looking ridiculous but Rubensthrough his great abilities managed to paint a magnificent series.


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Marie de' Medici, The three Fates on clouds beneath the celestial figures

of Juno and Jupiter.

The Fates are depicted as beautiful, nude goddessesspinning the thread of Marie de' Medici's destiny

Their presence at Marie's birth assures her prosperityand success as a ruler that is unveiled in the cycle'ssubsequent panels


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The viewer's first impression ofthe cycle came while enteringthrough the southeast corner.

The most visible works from thisangle were The Coronation in

Saint Denis and The Death ofHenry IV and the Proclamation ofthe Regency.

The first half of the cycle began atthe entrance wall, featuringimages of her childhood years and

marriage to HenryIV.

The Education of Marie de' Medici 1622-24


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Four of the images are devoted entirely to the marriage of Marie and Henry IV, formarriage at Marie's relatively advanced age of twenty-seven was quite rare.

This half ends with a depiction of Marie's coronation. The wall opposite the gallery's entrance presents an image of the assassination and

'


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Rubens, Peter Paul

The Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles - Detail of Marie de' Medici 1622-26


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Coronation of Marie de'Medici in St. Denis(detail),

by Peter Paul Rubens, 1622-1625.


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The Apotheosis of Henry IV and the Proclamation of the Regency of Marie deMedicisMay 14, 1610 by Peter Paul Rubens


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This was conceived as the climactic

work in a great cycle of Marie deMedici

It is 7m by 4m commissioned for the

palace where it stretched across theentire end wall of the gallery in whichit was hung

Rubens depicts two separate events:the death of the King (assassinated in

1610) and the regency of his widow.

The Presentation of Her Portrait to HenriIV, (from the Marie de' Medici Cycle), 1625,


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The events to the left

Henry IV is taken up to heavenlike a prophet or messiah as

apotheosis means. He is carried by Saturn (with

sickle) the God of time anddeath who delivers him to

Jupiter the supreme God ofpower leaning down from

Olympia to receive him Jupiters eagle is bearing a

thunderbolt in its claws is thesymbol of the ascending soul

The serpent, shot throughwith arrows is an allusion to

the Kings assassin


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The events to the right

The embattled spirit ofFrance kneels and offers theorb to the unwilling widow

(depicted in deep mourning) Above her, a figure

representing the regency

offers her a rudder. The French aristocracy and

the heavenly graces pleadwith her to overcome herhumble reluctance.


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Minervas shield

The depiction on the shield isof the Gorgon Medusa This is an attribute of Minerva

the goddess of war andwisdom

In thanks for her help Perseus

made Minerva a gift ofMedusas head with its hair oflive snakes that could turnliving things to stone shouldthey look upon it

Unlike mars, Minerva is a

warrior of just causesexplaining her inclusion in thepainting

The same shield is present inthe judgment of Paris justbehind Minerva

P i t d b R b ith ti b F S d


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In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of the monsters known as Gorgons.

She often was represented as a winged female creature with hair consisting of snakes.

Because she was mortal, Perseus was able to kill her by cutting off her head. The story istold in the epic, Argonautica.

From her spurting blood, sprang Chrysaor and Pegasus, the flying horse, her two sonsby Poseidon, the sea god.The severed head, which had the power of turning into stone all

who looked upon it, was taken by Athena, who placed it in her shield. See also Ovid.Metamorphoses. IV:617-803.

Painted by Rubens with sections by Frans Snyders.


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The career of Rubens

Rubens was a fortunateman he was good looking

strong and healthy He was also well educated

sensible and good natured In addition he was wealthy

and a diplomat andrecocnised as such by the

crowns of Europe Twice married and by all

accounts very happily so He became court painter in

Mantua Italy at a very youngage and then at 32 he joined

the court of the InfantIsabella and ArchdukeAlbert in Brussels


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The Rubens Look

There is a sweetness toRubens that shows in thevigour of his work

People tend to give eachother a look of wholehearted trust

An example is the judgmentof Paris in which Paris looksat the Goddess withreverence and she returnsthe look innocently amazedat her victory.

The Flemish also loved fullbodied woman and most ofRubens nudes are too fatfor our modern tastes

D V


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Diego Velasquez


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The crowns of Spain before 1640

Spain at the time of Philip IV was not a unified nation but rather a fragmentedfederation of semi independent Kingdoms and provinces

Philip had rights over three large areas called crowns Portugal ,Castile andAragon Castile Spains large central area was itself divided into 10 smaller territories

including the autonomous Basque Provinces

It was the richest of Philips three crowns, the new world treasure flowed

mostly through its ports

Each land had its own Cortes, or Parliament and a proud sense of its ownidentity


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Las Meninas(Spanish for The Maids of

Honour)Diego Velzquez,

1656

At the center of thepainting is a littleprincess the InfantaMargarita Teresa withher maids all clustered

around her Her tutors, page dwarf

in attendance andgigantic dog

We work our way backby stages to the distantreflection of the kingand queen

The entire court ispresented in reverseorder of importance


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Painted for the kings private

summer quarters

It is both a portrait of the Kingsdaughter and a unique method ofhonouring the King himself byportraying the instant the kingwalks into the room and eachfigures response


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The Participants

Is it not strange the King and Queen should be a mere reflection? The attention to the mirror is drawn by the silhouetted courtier It is a question as to whether it is a reflection or a reflection of a painting The king and Queen are secure in their position they can afford to become a

mere reflection It is also a reflection of Velasquez position of familiarity with the family he can

get away with a picture of himself not as a servant but as part of the family


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The Infanta Margarita (165173)

Painted here in a mourning dressfor her father in 1666, The

background figures include heryoung brother Charles II and thedwarf Maribarbola - also in LasMeninas.

She left Spain for her marriage inVienna the same year

Portrait - Juan del Mazo 1666.


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Velasquez inclusion of himselfin the painting.

He occupies a fair portion ofthe painting and his canvasdominates the left hand side

The large copies of Rubens

paintings in the backgroundare diminished (with someirony) by the shadows

The Red Cross on his chestsignifies knighthood whichwas added 2-3 years later.

This is an indication of howVelasquez soughtrecognition and status

Velzquezs paint technique


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Velzquez s paint technique The fluid seemingly hasty brushwork has an arbitrary look from close up As the viewer steps back the brushwork assumes a reality that shows the

skill of the artist

Old Woman cooking eggs 1618

Don Diego de Acedo Sebastian de Morra Francisco Lezcano


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life as a court Jester The dwarves were employed as jesters in the kings courts since medieval times Philip IV favourite was a dwarf named Sebastiano de Morra The dwarves feelings as humans were disregarded and they were expected to endure the

jokes and insults of the courtiers The king would choose the names of the jesters giving them mock titles of ludicrous

grandeur The portrait of Francisco Lezcano (1636-38) shows us his ability to look into the humanity

of the sitter as a human being The portrait shows us the jester can show the same tragic dignity and unalienable

humanity as the figure of the tragic dying Christ on the cross. Don Diego de Acedo a minor court official

Don Diego de Acedo Sebastian de Morra Francisco Lezcano

Th Gi i


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The pope - GiovanniBattista Pamphilj [1574-1655], made a cardinal in1629 and elected to thethrone on September 16,

1644) The Pope is seated in a red

armchair, which is pickedout from the opulent red ofthe curtain behind it by itsgilded ornamentation.

In the strong features, thecritically keen suspiciouseyes strike a note of livelyintelligence.

A man aware of his ownpower is wonderfullyexpressed in the contrast

between the face and thefine nervous hands, whichconvey the sensitivity ofthis powerful figure.

One of the world's supreme

masterpieces of portraiture.


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Bacon and Velasquez

Infante Felipe Prspero 1660


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Infante Felipe Prspero 1660

A sickly child from birth, andhe died at the age of four.

He appears in this picture in

a pink dress trimmed withsilver, striking accessories:

various amulets weresupposed to protect himagainst the evil eye

amber apple was thought to

ward off infections. The bloodless face of the

blue-eyed prince looks evenpaler due to the contrastwith the silver highlights inhis straw-coloured fair hair.

The room is full of shadowsthat seem to threaten thelittle figure.

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Rubens Velasquez