Description

Peter Paul Rubens, 1577 Siegen – 1640 Antwerpen, Kreis des

DECIUS MUS INTERPRETS THE DREAM TO HIS OFFICERS Oil on wood. Parquetized. 83 x 74 cm. With old labels and numbering verso. In ebonized frame. The heroic death of the Roman consul Decius Mus is regarded in ancient tradition as an "exemplum virtutis", an example of particularly virtuous action. Peter Paul Rubens was the first artist to translate Livy's account of the Roman war against the Latins in 340 BC into painting. The inhabitants of the plain of Latium had risen up against Roman domination and challenged the Romans with a numerically superior army. In the camp at Capua, the Roman commanders-in-chief, the consuls Decius Mus and Titus Manlius, had the same dream: the army whose commander fell in battle would be victorious. Rubens focuses his narrative on Decius Mus, the hero of his series of paintings. In the first painting, Decius stands alone before his army to tell of his dream, while Titus Manlius remains unnoticed. The artist shows Decius Mus standing on a pedestal in a commanding pose, surrounded by standard bearers from various units in different battle dress. An oil sketch for this painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, suggests that Rubens originally planned to enrich the secular history with allusions to the ancient world of the gods by having the eagle of Jupiter hover above the consul's head as a divine protector. In the final execution, however, he dispensed with this mythological exaggeration. In his depiction, Rubens followed a pictorial formula that was particularly common in antiquity, the adlocutio, in which a general in an elevated position speaks to his legates and tribunes. Such depictions can be found on Rome's triumphal monuments, such as the Arch of Constantine and Trajan's Column. The latter served Rubens as a direct model with one of its relief scenes. Rubens advocated the creative adaptation of ancient imagery, but also emphasized the need for a sensitive understanding of the model in his essay "De Imitatione Statuarum". In Rubens' translation of the relief scene into painting, the frieze-like character is retained, but the symmetrical arrangement of the figures in the antique model now gives way to a lively variation with diverse motifs of movement. The painterly style also contributes to an additional dynamization. The study version by Peter Paul Rubens is kept in the National Gallery of Art in Washington under inventory number 1957.14.2 (80.7 x 84.7 cm). The large original painting with the same depiction has been kept in the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein since 1693 and measures 294 × 279 cm. (1402326) (13) Peter Paul Rubens, 1577 Siegen - 1640 Antwerp, circle of DECIUS MUS RELATING HIS DREAM TO HIS OFFICERS Oil on panel. Parquetted. 83 x 74 cm. Old labels and numbers on the reverse. The heroic death of the Roman consul Decius Mus is considered in ancient tradition to be an "exemplum virtutis", an example of particularly virtuous behavior. Peter Paul Rubens was the first artist to portray Livy's report on the war of the Romans against the Latins in 340 BC in painting. An oil sketch for this painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, suggests that Rubens originally intended to enrich the secular history with allusions to the ancient world of gods by having Jupiter's eagle hover over the head of the consul as a divine protector. In the final version, however, he dispensed with this mythological allusion. In his depiction, Rubens followed a pictorial formula that was particularly common in antiquity, the "adlocutio", in which a general speaks to his legates and tribunes from a vantage point. The study version by Peter Paul Rubens is held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington under inv. no. 1957.14.2 (80.7 x 84.7 cm). The large original painting has been in the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein since 1693 and measures 294 × 279 cm.

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Peter Paul Rubens, 1577 Siegen – 1640 Antwerpen, Kreis des

Estimate 14 000 - 16 000 EUR

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For sale on Thursday 27 Jun : 10:00 (CEST)
munich, Germany
Hampel
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