Felicitat conjugal

Rubens 1610

"Una vegada vaig veure un retrat de Rubens tal com es veia quan es va casar amb la seva jove esposa. Van ser retratats junts, ella asseguda i ell dret darrere d'ella. Mai podré oblidar l'emoció que em va inspirar aquesta imatge. Vaig experimentar una llarga i profunda mirada al món de la satisfacció. Vaig poder sentir el vigor de Rubens, aleshores en la flor de la vida; vaig poder sentir la confiança que la seva jove i molt encantadora companya despertava en ell. Vaig notar que s'havia produït algun esdeveniment interior aclaparador que el Rubens pintor havia intentat fixar per sempre en aquesta imatge de la felicitat conjugal. Desconeixent la història de la seva vida, no sé si va viure feliç amb ella per sempre o no. El que va passar després del moment registrat no té cap importància per a mi. El meu interès rau totalment en aquell moment que em va ser tan commovedor i inspirador. Continua imperible a la meva ment".

Henry Miller a The world of sex (1957)

Text original:

"Once I saw a portrait of Rubens as he looked when he married his young wife. They were portrayed together, she seated and he upright behind her. Never can I forget the emotion this picture inspired. I had one long deep look into the world of contentment. I could feel the vigour of Rubens, then in the prime of life; I could feel the confidence which his very young and very lovely mate awakened in him. I sensed that some overpowering inner event had occurred which Rubens the painter had striven to fix forever in this picture of conjugal bliss. Not knowing the story of his life, I do not know whether he lived happily with her ever afterwards or not. What happened subsequent to the moment recorded is of no importance to me. My interest lies wholly in that moment which was so moving and inspiring to me. It remains imperishable in my mind."

El quadre és de 1610, i es conserva a la Alte Pinakothek de Munich. El títol original del quadre és "Rubens und Isabella Brant in der Geißblattlaube". Ell no està ben bé dret (més aviat està assegut a una alçada superior a la d'ella), però es pot perdonar aquesta imprecisió de la memòria de Miller...

Ella és Isabella Brandt, la primera muller del pintor. Es van casar en 3 d'octubre de 1609 a Anvers. Ell tenia 32 anys i ella 18. Isabella Brandt va morir de la pesta el 15 de juliol de 1626, als 34 anys. Va tenir tres fills amb Rubens: Clara, Nicolaas i Albert.

La Wikipedia afegeix:

"This double portrait, which broke new ground in portrait painting, was purportedly done shortly after the marriage. Rubens did not however give up using traditional symbolism: Honeysuckle was a well known symbol for faithfulness and hands laid over one another ("dextrarum iunctio") have symbolized matrimony since ancient times. However these references are integrated into this snapshot-like scene in which middle-class contentedness, substantial affluence and strong affection are expressed."

La Web Gallery of Art en diu:

"In 1609 Rubens married Isabella Brant, daughter of the humanist and lawyer, Jan Brant, one of the secretaries of Antwerp. Shortly after his marriage, he lovingly portrayed himself hand-in-hand with his wife under a honeysuckle bower.

About 32 years old, Rubens here presents himself together with his young wife Isabella in the accoutrements of chivalric elegance and in a state of happiness resulting from new love. The pair have sat down in the shade of a honeysuckle bower as if after a brief stroll, and are visibly enjoying the beauties of their metaphoric and natural "situation". He, now the grand seigneur, sitting with his legs crossed on a balustrade, is supporting with his right hand the hand of his wife, who is seated beside him on a grassy bank a little lower down. Each inclines slightly towards the other. She, while somewhat lower in the composition, is in no way his inferior in social rank, and lovingly takes his hand, casting a calm and friendly glance at the beholder. Ruff, Florentine hat, and brocade bodice casually emphasize, in combination with the angle of her head and the seated motif, the slight tension in the compositional bow which is further reinforced by her relaxed left arm and the fan she is holding in her left hand. This bow finds its response in her husband's bodily attitude, the position of his arm, and the gestures of his hands, while his orange hose leads a whimsical life of its own alongside her wine-red skirt.

Rubens is portrayed looking over the beholder from high above, his facial expression is calm and contemplative. Both man and wife are visibly aware of what they have in each other, how precious their life together is, both as solemn matrimony and as natural romantic bliss. Everything around them is green and flourishing. At the bottom left, our own gaze is drawn into an extensive landscape. Following in the motif tradition of the "garden of love", Rubens in this picture summarizes his individual, family and artistic bliss."

Anna Sidelnikova en diu (per a Arthive):

"When Rubens Phillip's older brother married, the artist said that he himself would never marry, because he could not find an equally worthy and perfect wife in all respects. But several years passed and a worthy lot was found for Rubens. And, literally in the next house. The niece of that very ideal woman, the wife of his brother, became the wife of a 32-year-old artist.

Isabella Brandt was 18 years old. Daughter of the Antwerp publisher of classical ancient authors, she was far from the circle of court secular beauties. Rubens avoided this circle all his life, even many years later, even when he was already a nobleman and a diplomat, the most famous European artist. But while Peter Paul is not rewarded with a noble title, he has nothing to do with politics and has not heard much about him at the European royal courts. He recently returned from Italy, where he spent 8 years at the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga and barely had time to appear before the archduke Albrecht and infanta Isabella. Soon Rubens will write their portraits and will be immediately accepted by the court artist, and on his own terms, with a monthly salary. Soon he will buy land in Antwerp and start building a huge house for his young, still childless, family.

Not surprisingly, young Isabella so quickly agreed to a marriage. Firstly, the biographers of Rubens are inclined towards an almost fabulous version of mutual love at first sight, and secondly, they are forced to recognize Rubens as an extremely positive and respectable character who has never been seen in a fleeting intrigue or windy love adventure.

Rubens's nephew recalled: “He rose at four o'clock in the morning, making it a rule to start a new day with a visit to Mass, unless he was tormented by the attack of gout, which pretty much poisoned his existence; then he went to work, sitting down a hired reader, who read out loud to him some good book, most often Plutarch, Titus Livius or Seneca. He loved his work more than anything else, and therefore he always arranged in such a way as not to experience inconvenience and harm to his health. For the same reason, he ate little. He feared that the smell of meat would not hinder his work, and, conversely, that work would not prevent the digestion of meat. He worked until five o'clock in the evening, and then saddled his horse and went for a walk around the city or to the fortress, or found another occupation that brought relief from worries. Upon his return, he was usually waited by several friends with whom he had dinner. He hated the abuse of wine and gluttony, like gambling. ”.

To such a perfect lifestyle, one should add the high education and visual appeal of the groom - and agree that Isabella Brandt was surprisingly lucky with her marriage. If we really try to find at least a small weakness in Rubens, considering the pair wedding portrait with Isabella, then you need to look at the artist's left hand. The hand calmly, confidently, even somehow casually, holds the hilt of the sword. That sword, which Rubens is not supposed to wear. Because he is not a nobleman. While not a nobleman. With all restrained, but persistent, rejection of the court circles, a categorical refusal to live in Brussels next to the Archduke, Rubens is vain. He writes a wedding portrait, surprisingly warm and happy, and at the same time declares a plan of his own actions for the near future. The plan is to be an artist, to achieve such a noticeable success that the monarch will grant him nobility and recognizes him as worthy of wearing a sword along with nobles, heroes and politicians."