Subjects from History
The Decius Mus Series
By (author) Reinhold Baumstark By (author) Guy Delmarcel
Rubens’s Decius Mus Cycle is in many ways a first. It provides the earliest example of work for the medium of tapestry, and so illustrates the artist’s approach to the challenges presented by a narrative sequence of images. The woven versions, like the corresponding set of six paintings preserved in the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein since 1692, represent the heroic death of the Roman Consul Decius Mus, following Livy’s account of how he sacrificed himself to the gods to procure victory for Rome. Rubens stages the episodes of this dramatic story with characteristic ingenuity, producing images with a powerful visual impact and narrative force. To recreate Livy’s story with Roman authenticity, Rubens drew on a wide range of sources, including not only classical texts but the growing antiquarian literature of his age, as well as archaeological evidence that he had studied in person while in Italy. The Decius Mus Cycle thus forms Rubens’s first large-scale manifestation of the reception of antiquity. At the same time it reveals the inspiration of Italian Renaissance traditions. Begun in 1617, the Decius Mus Cycle belongs to a particularly intense and productive phase of Rubens’s career. Many altarpieces and other large-scale compositions were also realised in this period, which made the participation of an extensive workshop essential. Together with the preparatory modelli, the paintings of the Decius Mus Cycle testify to the interaction of master and assistants, providing clearer documentation than was previously available of Rubens’s creative process. Technical examination undertaken specifically for the present volume – including full-surface analysis using X-ray and infrared reflectography – has resolved many puzzles and will provide future researchers with a wealth of new information.
- By (author) Reinhold Baumstark
- By (author) Guy Delmarcel
Other Titles in this Series
Portraits of Unidentified and Newly Identified Sitters Painted in Antwerp
Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard XIX.3
Volume 19.3
Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard
Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists: Italian Masters. Titian and North Italian Art
Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard
Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists: Italian Masters. Artists Working in Central Italy and France
Corpus Rubenianum Part IV
The Holy Trinity, The Life of the Virgin, Madonnas, and The Holy Family: The Holy Trinity and The Life of the Virgin
Volume 4.1
Copies and Adaptations from Renaissance and Later Artists
German and Netherlandish Artists
Volume 26.1
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