Sacred Love defeating Profane Love
Ca. 1630. Bronze, Porphyry.Room 011B
Nowhere is the fascinating world of diplomatic gifts and their language – the way an object can be turned into a persuasive instrument, able to dictate decisions and shape opinions – more intriguingly apparent than in this superb relief.
There is a wealth of documentation on its production and origin, and on its entry into the Spanish royal collection as a gift from Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597-1679) to King Philip IV. It is a copy, made by Tommaso Fedele, of a composition by the Flemish sculptor François du Quesnoy (1597-1643) that was to enjoy considerable success. The original patinated plaster model on which the Prado piece was directly based is now in the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, while the Galleria Doria Pamphilj holds the marble version made by Du Quesnoy for the garden of the Villa Pamphilj or del Bel Respiro in Rome.
For this faithful reproduction of Du Quesnoy’s composition, Fedele chose to use porphyry, an unusual rock which in the seventeenth century had regained the special symbolic dignity it had been accorded in the ancient world. Echoes of the imperial past are conveyed through its very materiality, its compact solidness, and above all its characteristic reddish-purple colour, associated with power.
The imperial purple turned any item into an exceptional, valuable piece of art in its own right; and its worth was enhanced when the workmanship was of the quality that a seasoned master like Fedele brought to his carving. The skilled artistry, that prodigious tenerezza so admired by Giovan Pietro Bellori coupled with the subtle differentiation of textures – the rough ground, the interplay of polished facets to mark the shadows cast on other surfaces, thus achieving a nuanced lighting that belies the uniformity of the stone – combine to make this piece a wonderful present; a gift fit for a prince.
François du Quesnoy’s composition reflects his meticulous study of classical sources, reinterpreted here in a masterly manner. During their time in Rome, both he and Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) examined the whole range of gestures displayed by those putti, whose representation – as the personification of innocent sentiments – was spared from moral constraints and censure. Close analysis of ancient statuary and of highly influential paintings such as the 1518 Worship of Venus by Titian (c. 1488-1576) – which by the 1620s was in the Villa Ludovisi in Rome – provided the basis for a formal composition which achieved great success and was widely circulated.
The theme of the struggle between Sacred Love and Profane Love is a classical topos which echoed down the centuries, highlighting the permanent relevance of that clash of opposites between which human nature is torn: the spiritual versus the carnal. We could trace the subject back to its earliest origins, highlighting numerous instances in western art; but here we need only focus on the period when this kind of relief was being produced to see how current the idea was in contemporary thought.
Illustrated publications aimed at an international readership – such as Amoris divini et humani antipathia, with verses in French, Spanish, and Flemish, first published in Antwerp in 1629 – clearly show that the notion of constantly-warring passions was topical at the time, and that cultured seventeenth-century society focused particularly on its development through love-related emblems. At the same time, though tackled with a less sophisticated rhetoric intended to convey a plainer message, the theme was popular in allegorical devotional prints, including an engraving by Hieronymus Wierix (1553-1619) – that served as a source for later reliefs and paintings – which shows Divine Love triumphing over Cupid, like a conventional Archangel Michael trampling the devil underfoot.
Given this context, it is easy to see why the eternal battle between the spiritual and the earthly was a recurring motif in both literature and the fine arts.
Arias Martínez, Manuel, 'Tommaso Fedele. El Amor sagrado venciendo al Amor profano'. En: Guido Reni, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2023, p.328-330 nº 66
