ferros meni Rusens tn ‘LonNDon 7]CHAPTER 1 The Banqueting Hall and Rubens’s Career Tis arte or 4 vay ronrgny Comasion fi the Biron paint the ceiling decorations ofthe Banqueting Hall occupying the new Banqueting House in Whitehall Place was First raised with Peter Paul Rubens during a meeting in Antwerp in September 1621. Neither he nor his well-biefed interlocutor, the English tile Tobie Matthew, had sen the building, which was nearing completion. Bu the pros pect of securing this major avratdof patronage from the House of Stuart and asummary ‘twat this enfsiled elicited from Rubens the mast enlightening appraisal of his creative proach, This lucky chance ~ for Rubens, then the leading artist in northem Europe, right have been equally selfevealing on other occasions but they are not recorded =is nevertheless indicative ofthe great importance ofthe commission and its sigilicance in Rubens career Yeta number of factors have resulted in the neglect ofthe cycle, hich twas succesfully installed some fifteen years later tothe entire satisfaction ~»s Rubens tyrote of King Charles | his patron Although the Banqueting Hall had lstits main functions even before the fie of 169, "which destroyed the rest ofthe palace whose focal point it had been, Rubers’s paint ins continue! to Be admired for another century at lest. But as the rineteeih century ‘advanced so the appeal ofthe ceiling decoration declined. Several reasons ot ast the tinpopularty ofits hero, were to impede its recognition as an important workof at and ‘lamage its reputation, These will be discussed ina later chapter. Suffice it hereto state that it was not unt the 1960s that matters had drastically improved; yet the cycle as 3 ‘whole could only be satisfactorily appreciated - allowing for the wear and tea of over {hrec hundred years from he early 1970's when some of the paintings were earranged sos tobe displayed inthe way that Rubens most likely intend Rubens himself must have welcomed the opportnity to work for the House of ‘Stuart in spite of or because of, is being the most important and elevated Protestant family in Europe and Rubens’ ardent, bat not militant Catholicism. Indeed he would have regarded the commission as greatly significant in his carer, especially because is subject was then one ofthe most expected and esteemed statesmen in recert memory The artist was to receive a substantial though not excessive payment fort, having been treated with singular generosity by Charles I, «leading ruler onthe international tage. An added factor inthe importance Rubers is likely to have attached to the commis: son is that he hal probably formally received it when he was in England in 1629-30effecting his most notable contribution to public service on behalf of his Spanish sover- tign (and mixing for some nine months with the English élite), for wich he was t0 receive @ knighthood from Charles. Rubens was justly proud of the diplomatic role the had played in helping to bring about peace between the Crowns of Spain and Great Britain, and the commission forthe Banqueting Hall ceiling may be seen as the artistic return made forall his dlplomatic efforts That reward had proved taxing indeod to bring to fruition, Reproductions hardly convey the age scale of he undertaking which was not, for example, 28 great as Miche “angel's to fresco the ceiling ofthe Vatican Sistine Chapel, but comparable and Rubens had the added disadvantage of not being able to work i situ). From alter recorded remark, ican be infrze thatthe formal eeqirements of arial foreshortening greatly tested Rubens, For Charles Land his adviser, to, the commission was uncharted teri= tory for although the regular production of masques for the royal cour was an elabe rate undertaking, the masques were transitory and ephemeral. The celing was to be the permanent memorial of «statesman who had brought lasting cect and fame to the House of Stuart. Because ofthe cycle’s political importance is iconography’ had to be calibrated with very caeful attention to detail. And its evident that changes were requested of Rubens when he thought he had completed the design sage; and there \were tobe further problems over measurements By the time Rubens came to conser the commission he ad had some thirty years experience as practising artist, 0 such setbacks he could take in hs stride. He had become a master inthe Antwerp guild of St Luke in 1598/95, having been unuswally apprenticed to a8 many as three masters, the last of whom was the gifed andi leamed ‘Otto van Veen, For an artist whose imagination was to be so fertile, whose inventive [powers were to be s0 gre and whose prodiction so large, his early seuvre ~ much ‘admired by his mother, who praised unspecified examples of tin er wil of 1607 ~has puzzled students by its paucity and contrasting styles. “The result is that Rubens is thought of as having ben tnproductive before he went te Italy in 1600; he was aleady twenty thre, an age by ishich for instznee te young, Rembrandt some twenty yeas Inter had already produced a noticeably lager body of ‘exant work, Ithas tobe remembered that there may have been no financial pressure on Rubens sho came from a prosperous Antwerp family (in spite of his emily’ exile for religious reasons and his father’s troubled carer: he was a member ofthe urban pati {ate who would number among his early friends men who were also to play a leading, prt in the cultural and economic fe of thestill commercially important. He had too Spent time being trained in the eiquette of court ie, probably not an unusual course fora young man not of noble blood who hoped to make his way inthe world, There i reason lobelieve, though itis undocumented, that be had already won the Favour of the Country's co-soversgn the Archduke Albert, rom whom he obtained hiss important ‘commission in Rome, and of his patron in lal, Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, ‘who had visited the southern Netherlands in 1559 Trconrast ois previous activity in Antwerp, Rubens production intaly is quickly idiosyncratic and abundant, Indeed itis evident that his selconfdenas blossomed 35 | | | | i i | j iid his sense of colour no dou stimulated by his stayin Venice, his fis, known Malian port of call, Soon, while remaining inthe service of Duke Vincenzo, he would hold his, fn with the rising stars among the supremely gifted followers of the Caraci family ‘of atists in Rome. In 10, while a member of a Gonzaga embassy to King Philip Il of Spain, he executed his rst over lifesize equestrian portrait, that ofthe Duke of Lerma (hg. 2, which must also rank asthe frst painting ofthis type by a Netherlandish artist, The sitter was the powerful favourite of the king, and the portait was desgned to be hung among busts of Roman emperors in @ gallery in Lerma's country estate near Vall- adoli Rubens had had quickly to adapt t the scale of classical sculpture an aspi tion he was to engage wih to the fll in his career, as he emphasized in response tothe challenge presented by the possibility of painting the decorations inthe cding ofthe [Banqueting Hal in 1621: ‘I confess that Tam, by natural instinct, etter fie to execute very large works than small earosites! Rubens had gone on tocaim thatnot only wasscalenotan impediment butaso that ro undertaking, however. diversified in subject, has ever surpassed my courage Indeed by 1621 ~ midway in what wos to prove to be his allotted career he coule ook back onan oeuvre characterized by a wide variety of subject matter, rely wholly unprecedented. thu sometimes unas, lke the early Coun ofthe Gods (Prague Castle Art Collection), ‘or Heroand Lender (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven) or the later tapestry designs for the Story of Decius Mas, completed ony a ew years before 1621. Rubens personified the pictor dots by recourse to ah extensive library that he built up this highly intelligent ‘and well edacatec! man became deeply versed in literature, both sacred and profane, Wich offered potential sources for a greatly diverse range of subject. His resourceful ‘xpertise stemming from a retentive familiarity wilh literary sours s llustrated in [eters of 1627 concerning his attempt to identify a subject that could tell the story of a favourite who outlived his patron, or ofa widower mourning his wife ‘which can hardly be rendered in picture’, is unas proposal forthe former theme ofthe sith-centary ‘monk Cassiodonis demonstrates the extent of his reading and learning” ‘By the time of the meoting with Matthew in September 1621, the Jesuit Church of ‘San Carlo Borromeo In Antwerp had just been consecrated (i, 3). Tis had requiredRubens completion of a commission he had received les than eighteen months earlier to exccutea cycle of thirty-eight paintings to decorate the eeiling compartments ofthe {860 alsles and galleries above, a remarkable achievement, indicative of his inventive Powers and frm management of is studio, The programme had no daub been worked ‘ut by his Jesuit patrons in conjunction with himself, but the designs ware the response, bility ofthe artis alone, and showed his mastery of aerial foreshortenirg which he had studied in the work of lian, sixteenth eentury artists, notably Verona, but never pat imo practice belore. That experience would have miade him the move confident in is readiness to take on the Whitehall commission. Indeed for one ofthe larger paintings in {he ceiling, he used asa bass a composition he had devised fo the est Cherch™ ‘The subsequent, accidental delay in tackling the commission for the Banqueting Hall would have resulted in Rubens’ being the sore psychologically and intellect ally prepared to handle a subject that required the visualization of a monarcis theory of government and his successfully applied statecraf, His protagonist was unteeal among his contemporaries for having pursed his sims by peaceful means James woe {an upholder of peace ~as had supposedly been his exemplar the bibl! King Solomon ina period when war was the favoured means of prosecuting royal or tate smbitions His et, Charles I had abandoned his first policy ~a popular resort to some - allowing the death of is favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, and come to embracs to a pliey of peace towards his neighbours, His tance, however, was never dynamically proactive as itevolve in factit was toa degree determines by the Crown's straightened finance Rabens was already described ina letter of 1618 as very expert in metters of history and polities (eras histori ete politic). Bat conitmation of his actual pater: pation in public service only comes after the death of the Archduke A bert, when his ‘widow Archduchess Isabella authorized payment tothe artist out of Spanish military func in 1623. By then be had been involved ike James | but obviously in an nai ant capacity, in the search for peace by participating in secret negotiations with epee. Sentatives ofthe United Provinces fora declaration of truce following the expity of the Tivelve Years’ Truce in 1621. Rubens's positon at Isablla’s court ws to prow in importance, and ast di so, so dd his familiarity with publicservce anc men in public life. Coincidentally and simultaneously; Rubens was engaged in execatirs the commis sion from Marie de Médicis forthe decoration of gallery inher new Parsian residence, the Palais du Luxembourg, Its subject was the lengthy pictorial biography ofits heroine, his patron the Dowager Queen; the series occupied! him from 1622 to 1625 Int Rubens introduced the gods and goddesses of antiquity and personifiatons of concepts ot ‘motions which reveal the intentions of the human actors and offend commentary on their ations, Thus was revamped the vision of Homer and the classical pets to explain ond embelish recent Preach history The Life of Marie de Macs (Musée du Louvre, Paris), which consisted of only half of the original commission =the other (never completed) being the lie ofthe Queen's dead husband Henri IV —has been described as “the most ambitious artistic undertaking of Rubens entire career’. Tue it covered a slightly greater are of canvas than would theBanging Hall eyele, but Rubens was to change marginally more atleast onthe bass ‘of one plausible calculation) forthe latter The Medicis cycle seems tebe i ily good condition, wile the paint sueface ofthe Bangueting Hall canvases seem Tikely as notin some areas atleast, shorn oft oiginolbrillance. Inthe formes Rubens sccteded in injecting drama into some events which now arehardly moe than footnotes in history, however notable and/or controversial atthe time. In the Banqueting, Hal, Rubens lagely abandoned narrative fora dramatically conveyed, extende ‘3 neign and an achievement that has fong been disdained. ln the Coun of the G Of the lagyer. climactic pictures in the Mésics sees (fg. 4), Apollo and Minerva are strains Mars and the Queen, elevated exception ‘Shown driving away the forces of evil as Venus to Olympus, supplictes Jupiter In the Banqueting Hall, the hero, James, i in contol ff the gids and is shown tiumphant as a result. So it can be argued that Rubens had Achieved a greater, dramatic caherence than in the Medicis cycle, however briliantly “Contrived ate ts individual compositions. further fatorin compa that while the Mics cycle is displayed ina modern gallery the Whit iis original setting Ater he had completed work on the Ban Hall cycle, Rubens was to design the huge fable to decorate the processional route of the Archuchess’ successor, the Cardinal Infante Fendinand’ Joyous Entry into Antwerp: these were to be published {nna beautifully illustrate folio volume entitled the Pomp IntroitusFedinan in urtem “Anteerpiam. Although Rubens had died the year before it came off the press, be had probably supervised the making ot the prints, His designs were mostly executed by feamsot oer Antwerp artists, Rubens's grand al complex proposals included history ng the two cycles is Il eycle itilponegyc cv spain, and inthe Apts of la Clam Ege a sqston nthe traf tobe pursued bye Cannan no appears ov an eal oting srt ged eh gdh. “The ChnftinK anes a the Banqueting Hal eee asa whole ca bested was he at rand series for which Rubee was oly eons Ba he wdetaing ‘sto pet at portation ofasilantscaneassuned Ts shoud nt becnedeed ‘Sept ineed even forthe Loft ican he gress ses contac tobe the workef hs hand and collaboration cn be detected especie Inndscape bahar The contact fe he panting forthe Jest Chur allowed or Studia pricpton, bute what erent Kabes took svartagec hs simple tsa) bs the canvases havelong sae ben destrojed. Tat he aden ample po ofsich sl tint ine pant inks sje ane feed rm theft ha isstaio was already fae cpa by ot at ht assed fe lo ot kot psa en four or ent Ave apprentices working or te highly succesfl Gert van Honors Ure in 127 isa pue Notallot thom woud fave been ll-sedged est butte prose seal heft at Rens partly Ds spring oly on eee sown patlpoton, abou which es ue open as ad to continual Spaaaton tbout he degre of stud claboraton nor tuted his Certainly the authorship of te preparatory werk wes Rubens shad ben the fora the commision he unrtock heen ly, Span and ery afer his ter om aly in 8 un is dnth iyo penta Such wlan he ese or the prune for eo apy sere degre The Soy of ects Bs, The feof Costrtn the Gre te Trp of he Each woven fr he ry tunery in Mac, and an undeiskng even ager nal han the Le Maree ” gr the rye pbaly executed inthe early 1S he began ttvk on he panting or Whitehall Not suprisingly o tube of thet htc {ert comstn ate among the most adie inh corpus of his peepartory work (vera spanat sme thity serait in Ane Iiselaest ht te gre quite nuncros altace or chuches,commisdoned fom Ribs in Bases and Anwerp om the pgs he Rang of he Cro pled for Sag Antwerp Cathe ot so the go pe or aes ene one CKunststrches Museu, Vn) inter 16508 ~are ciety sow or Wea tho cep find lly auogrph work among his teatwent of mytologial subject frome net of Pare atonal alloy, Landen probly executed bef e Ico ay then and Aras enecute soon tert return (Walia Richart seu Gogh ote works conte oth sto Ns ate he dso thn King Philp 1s Tae de Parada ote Madd For the maj pangs fortis commision- probly because ofthe rest umber inl al thst ine Salealowedtodcliver thm -he proided secs for oer arts to workup Tuten eel on callabrtrs fo fish he nape sting et fs Se i composts asta ben nae none nsans bt helo pte ety | ‘ned grup ofindgpendentlandspes om xl in is cre he ine net‘on became even more adventurous and celebratory of life in the Brabant countryside. He probably painted landscapes for his own satisfaction, for they secre not tobe widely ‘ publicised un the end of his carer A last category of autograph works necessary €0 : ‘mention hece should be his portaits,paticuladly of his two wives and ther children, ‘ His aptitude in this expoct was to serve him in good stead when executing frst the Life of Mave de Matis, eich required posthamois portraits of Henri IW and courtiers and portraits showing his qucen ageing: and then the Bangueting Hall commission, which ‘equled three posthumous portraits of James, from his acession te the English throne in 1603 until his death twenty-t60 yeas ater Ralens grew immensely wealthy from his at in 1618 it was reported that he hal ‘already wasted over 24 thousand guilders on his house’ (alreede over 24 duysent gulcens versnoept in syn huys’) -anenvious reference ts having, doublless, designed fn then had built a magnificent Antwerp town house opposite the older building he hha acquired (fig 5). Recent research is shoven that he alsa was a generous lender and a heavy investor in property. According tothe experienced British diplomat, Sir Thomas Roe: Rubens was avery able man agile and full of resource, and marvellously well equipped to condact any rent affair. He [Roe] hae known him before and they were very familiar in Antwerp, where he had grovm so rch by his peoession that he appeared everywhere, not like a paint bt a great cavalie with avery stately train of servants, horses, coaches liveries and 0 forth. He [Roe] said that the painter had fo grent advantages grt wealth andl mach astateness ‘This asessment was reported by the Venetian ambassador in London in ly 1629 when Rubens was already in the English capital" 'Not without reason are Rubens's career and achievements described in superlatives: hewasa man endowed with genius, remarkable gifts and energy Taayhe is ecognized as one of the giants of European painting. But this is not to say that he did not suffer Setbacks both as an artist and public servant, The fist altepiece Fe executed forthe ‘Chiesa Nuova in Rome was found tobe unsatisfactory and he had te paint a substitute; nor did his patron, Duke Vincenzo, take up his offer of the rejected altarpiece. There is {evidence that not long after his return to Antwerp two proposals fe major altarpieces ‘met with opposition af some kind and were not carried out the later was the fate of his nove admire frst proposal forthe high altrof Antwerp Cathedral, while the Jao and Argus, mentioned above, had not pleased its intended ovenex Laterhe was denied the ‘opportunity to execute the Lf of Hen TV for which he had been contracted, This may have been due to internal French polities and should not probably betaken asa criticism ‘of his art. But one painting in the Mari de Medicis cycle had had tabedestroyed because it gave offence, oehile three years earlier, one ofthe cartoons for The Life of Constant the Great had also been criticised when i arrived in the French capital Ie is noteworthy thatso far as concerned public affairs, the artist was reprimanded inthe Estates General ‘meeting in Brussels in 1633, and a rebuke by the Duke of Aershot athe time was madepubl. Farr, in 1627, his secret peace negotiations hal been brought to an en, behind his back, by his Spanish mast twentieth cic a While the dalCHAPTER 2 The Banqueting House N eaRty RrQuineaent oF Janes Stuanr, the frst member of his dynasty to be King of Great Britain, was to replace the decaying, temporary st.cture that had served Qusen Elizabeth as Bangueting; House in Whitehall Palace, the main royal residence that was by the Thames in Westminster James’ first Banqueting House burnt slown on 12 January 1619, after abouta decade of use. The fre was probably started by 8 ‘candle used by two cleaners ora workman, who had gained entry; tse alightmasquing ‘costumes which were in temporary store. The consequent conflagration had taken hold bby 1020 in the morning: within an hour the building was ruin, Toreplace it was a priority forthe King Inigo Jones (fg 6), the Surveyor ofthe Kings Works (and thus the architect of the new bildng) took the matter urgent in hand as did, when required, the five Commissioners for the Banqueting House who alld high office inthe royal household of the administration, apart fom the Earl of Arundel. The intention may have been to complete the building within a year, but probleme with the delivery of Portland stone and with the workforce meant thatthe Hall~ the pain room within the building ~could only be use forthe is time for an offical event en 23 Api 121, The financial accounts for the work were closed on 31 March 16222 Jones had intended tha the Hall situated abovea vaulted ground storey, should be Aube cube measuring 110» 55 «SSF 2417 « 17m) (although the actual dimensions ‘ifer very slightly) Ina return of 1633 the interior was ths describe: roi windowes of eache side and one great windowe at the upser [southern end, and five Doores of st the inside bought up bricks finished over w twoeonders of Collores a pillasters, parte of stone and parte of Bricks, w" there Architrave Freize and Cornish, wa galleie upon the twoe sides and the [northern] end borne upon greate Cattoozes of Tymber carved w Rales 4 blasters of Tymiser, and the loore lay w Speuce Deales,a strong 1 Frontespeeces and Cartoozes, Tymber roe covered w* Lead, and under ita Cooling divided into a Pett made of great Comishes ineiched w carvings we" painting glaing The ceiling was thas deserbed in 1930‘The celing is divided into nine deep panels by decorative ibs formes by ‘he modillion cornice ane oerametl frieze being mitreda-ound withthe Bulloch to the softs the whole constititing a rich frame to each panel ‘The centre panel isthe oval shape favoured by Jones. The puilloce orna- ‘ment on the soft overlaps atthe intersections withthe main ibs, which Position is marked by carved rosettes, similar features being induced atthe crossing of the nbs and intermestates, The main decorations ane picked out in gilt, producing rch effect.” Rubens, when he save the three bands of diferent coloured stone which made up the exterior, and the relative Jack of decorative embellishment, may have ageeed with the sentiments of his fiend George Gage (se fig 22) ina letter of 14 May 1420". have ‘scene Inigo Jones his banqueting house, which i a good liste pecce saving that it hath some blemishes here and there... But though architects may dfs in opinion about fomaments, [am glad in substance to soe good building begun to get into this sland Indeed Jones's Banqueting House was the frst structure in England in which was fly ‘expressed the canonical, classics language of architecture; of all his buildings it most clearly shows the influence of Andrea Palladio, an architect whom Jones revered above all others. The contrast would have Been stack withthe Tudoc edifices of te rambling palace, as was grudgingly pointed out atthe tine: #3995". 100 faireand nothing stable to the rst ofthe house [se = palace ‘Latin inscription, perhaps to be displayed inside the building, reads in translation: From the guardian spirit fo the visitng viewer. James, frst king of Great Britain built from the ground up this hall, which stikes the eye by its majesty and speaks most magnificently of the soul of its Lond, eazed when scarcely made of brick, but now the equal of any marble buildings throughout Europe, intended for festive occasions for formal spectacles, and forthe cetemonialsof he British cout tothe eternal glory of his name ‘and of his most peaceful empire, he let it for posterity. In the Year 162 Probably om all state occasions, and certainly in the case of public audiences given to ambassadors extraondinary, the King would be ‘seated beneath “the stoe”, 9 canopy With the royal coat of arms, behind his chai on raised platorn. This was placed at the southem (or upper) end ofthe coom, whence the royal party made its entrance, The ambassador with his escort would enter from the opposite (lower)end, which remains the public entrance to this day? Sir John Finet, Charles I's master of ceremonies ~a pes rete by his father in mits tion of the diplomatic practice of the Roman cura kepta dry recording the labor rate niceties of diplomatic etiquette fr reference by his successor. Foreign ambassadors, ‘especially ambossadors extraordinary ~ men of rank sent to negotiate a particular ssc {and not to be permanent residents ~ were teated with the most lavish hospitality and respec. The high point of their embassies was theofficial reception and leae-taking in ‘he Banqueting Hal. These were occasions of great ostntation, when the magnificenceoe BO OT Gae tTHE BANQUETING HOUSE ofthe host court was on full display soa tobroadeastthe pre-eminence andthe standing ofthe King” Great importance wasattached by visiting diplomats to attendance (granted that their precedence was respected) at masses, sal) held on Twelfth Night and/or Shrove ‘Tuesday, in the Banqueting Hall. ome thirteen of these incredibly elaborate perfor rmances ae listed as having taken place therein Charles's eign. Such evenings of thea requiring much planning, great artistry andl technica ingenity and involving the apex of British society are har! fr us to imagine today. But hus Was sustained the tradition tstablishe by the King’s paren, inspired by Continental example, particularly from France; Chares als employed the same designer ~ Inigo Jones - who remained respon sible both forthe sets and costunies, Many of Jones's drawings ~ some four hundred and fity for example figs 8 and 9) ~ both forthe exquisite costumes and inventive stage sets have survived (The Duke of Devonshite, Chatstorth) and permit some kea ofthe displays which entranced the six hundred or so members ofthe audience: Tr Jones's work is the best known aspect ofthese productions, che contributions of composers, musicians and professional dancers were equally not moze, important. ‘The professionals performed inthe anti-masque, and members ofthe cour, including the King and Queen, performed in the masque itself, their routines perfected ater several weeks of rehearsil. Added t9 the music and dance were the declamatory speeches of {he libre that were in no way deamati, but rather emblematic panegyeics upon the royal vision, enlivened inthe anti-masque, by mildly critical allusions to comtemporary “The first masque inthe new Banqueting Hall was performest on 6 January 1622; bt ‘none was performed therein 1629 and 1630 when Rubens was in London. This was pethaps die toa svish fo make economies asthe slaging of a masque was expensive Indeed a figure of 1400 being not uncommon in the 1630s. This amounted to somewhat Tess ha half f the fee Rubens was tobe paid for his eyele of paintings.” “The installation ofthe paintings inthe ceiling put an end to the staging of masques| in the Hall, This resulted from the King’s and his advisers sponsible atituce towards, conservation and the realization that stoke from candles required to light the perfor ‘mance of a masque would discolou the varnish of the paintings, This much canbe laent fromthe foreword to the printed text of Briémia Tuplans, performed on Twelth [Night of 1638, in which it 695 explained that a temporary masquing room had been boil lest the “pieces of painting of geeat value, figuring the acts of King James oF happy memory . might suffer by the smoke of many lights.