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This set of paintings on the five senses (Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch) was one of the most successful collaborations of Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel “the elder.” Rubens placed his figures in the magnificent courtly scenes created by Brueghel as settings for these allegories of the senses, resulting in a series of enormous quality and esthetic appeal. The subject was widely employed i
In the past various authors have expressed their scepticism about the attribution of the painting to Rembrandt. However, the Rembrandt Research Project includes it in the Corpus of 1986 as an original work, and this is supported by the technical study conducted at the Museo del Prado that year. As for the signature, the unsteadiness of the stroke and, above all, the yellow colour make it dubious.
A portrait of King Carlos IV (1784-1819) wearing red velvet and decorated with the Golden Fleece, on a background of curtains that partially hide a crown at the right edge of the composition. This work may have been made shortly after the Monarch took the throne, as he still wears the sash of Carlos III (1716-1788), whose design was specified on 24 October 1772. Its combination of colors was modif
This work and its companion (P6413) belonged to Jean de Croy, Count of Solre and captain of the Flemish Royal Guard of Archers, of which Van der Hamen was a member. Unframed, the two paintings hung in De Croy’s Madrid palace, where they flanked the entrance to the painting gallery. As such, they may have served as a trompe l’oeil expansion of the real space, whose floor they probably reproduce. Th
A broad view of the Flemish countryside, with diverse scenes of peasants carrying out their respective tasks. This is one of the finest examples of the collaboration between Jan Brueghel “the Elder”, who is thought to have painted the figures, and Joos de Momper, who made the landscape. The scene is formed by accumulating various planes that follow each other toward the back, in perspective. The e
This forest corresponds to one of the typologies pioneered by Jan Brueghel the Elder around 1605, which he developed over the course of that decade. The painting depicts a well-travelled path through a forest, leading to a village discernible on the horizon. A small stream crosses the path. The painter intends for the viewer to experience the interior of the forest, thus offering several possibili
The lady depicted here, around 50 years of age, is represented slightly greater than half-length, seated on a chair upholstered in green cloth, with a striking cashmere shawl of vivid colours lying on one of its arms. She is wearing a dark blue velvet dress with a lace mantilla covering her shoulders. Richly bejewelled, she wears a magnificent bracelet and a ring on her right hand, in which she is
An elaborate garland of flowers, fruit and animals frames a painting representing the Virgin Mary with the Christ Chile on her right arm and a crown of flowers in her left hand. Paintings of the Virgin framed with garlands were prized in the Flemish world, where they served as a response to the Protestant Reform that negated the validity of representations of the Virgin or of saints. Brueghel resp
This set of paintings on the five senses (Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch) was one of the most successful collaborations of Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel “the Elder”. Rubens placed his figures in the magnificent courtly scenes created by Brueghel as settings for these allegories of the senses, resulting in a series of enormous quality and esthetic appeal. The subject was widely employed i
The seated model is sumptuously dressed, with silver-lamé collar and cuffs, a pearl choker and a very dark green dress with silver decorations on her skirt and gold ones on the bodice and sleeves. She has flowers in her hair and long earrings. The heavy crimson velvet curtain behind her is echoed by a matching mat on the buffet. The scene opens onto an urban background that recalls the city
Alberto de Austria, the sovereign prince of the Low Countries, is dressed in black and sits under a canopy indicating that this is a court portrait. Unlike the customary indoor portraits, this one is set on a balcony open to a landscape that includes Tervuren Palace, near Brussels. This portrait, and that of his wife, Isabel Clara (P01684), seeks not only to bring out the figure of the Archduke, b
On August 29, 1626, King Philip IV’s painter, Vicente Carducho (ca. 1576-1638), signed a contract for the creation of a cycle of paintings to celebrate the founding of the Carthusian Order by Saint Bruno and its leading members. This colossal undertaking sought to visually narrate numerous episodes from the Carthusians’ history and tradition. It was the most complete commission ever dedicated to t
This set of paintings on the five senses was one of the most successful collaborations of Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel “the Elder”. Rubens placed his figures in the magnificent courtly scenes created by Brueghel as settings for these allegories of the senses, resulting in a series of enormous quality and esthetic appeal. The subject was widely employed in Flemish painting. Sight was consider
A group of travelers stop to rest, sitting together in the road. One of them speaks to a muleskinner, who leads a caravan of loaded mules. A very broad landscape unfolds on the left. In this painting, Brueghel offers one of his views with figures, but without any defined plot. He reveals his debt to the landscape ideas of Joost de Romper (1568-1625) by placing the figures at a bend in the road and
In this three-quarter portrait Queen Isabel de Valois (1546-1568) wears a black velvet gown with round sleeves from which her slashed red silk undersleeves embroidered with gold and silver thread peep out. On her head is a tilted flat cap which, like the buttons adorning the gown, is decorated with diamonds and rubies. The French queen would have dressed in this manner for solemn events, embellish
A wedding procession moves towards the church in a rural setting. The male members of both families lead the procession, headed by the groom. The flower in his hand is clearly a symbol of matrimony. The bride remains among the women. Both wear black clothing and a broad ruff collar, in keeping with early seventeenth-century style. The artist draws on the work of his father, Pieter Brueghel “the El
