17th century
Rubens: The Adoration of the Magi
244 pages, paperback, 280 x 240 mm, 90 colour illustrations + 3 fold-outs
PRICE: £50.00
ISBN: 978 1 903470 39 8
Edited by Alejandro Vergara; contributions by Joost vander Auwara, Herlinda Cabrero, Carmen Garrido, Alejandro Vergara and others
In 1609 Rubens signalled his return to Antwerp with a prestigious commission to paint a large Adoration of the Magi for the Town Hall, a picture designed to inaugurate and celebrate the Twelve Years' Truce between Spain and the rebellious Netherlands. In the subsequent tormented politics of the time, the picture was used as a bribe by Antwerp in an attempt to gain favour with the King of Spain, who then acquired the picture on the disgrace of the intermediary. Rubens, arriving at the Spanish court in 1628, repainted, extended and refashioned the picture to his own satisfaction (incorporating a self-portrait). The picture in due course passed from royal possession to the Prado in Madrid.
The Prado Adoration of the Magi is thus not only a most important work in the painter's career, but incorporates a dialogue by the painter with himself. The picture has been newly conserved, and following the dialogue has been made easier by the existence of a copy in a private collection of the 1609 version of the much altered work. It has been the fascinating task of Prado curator Alejandro Vergara and the Prado conservation department to investigate the changes Rubens made and their motivation, while Joost vander Auwara provides a new analysis, employing new documents and rereading known ones, of the intentions and iconography of the original Antwerp commission.
The book is very beautifully printed and illustrated with a multitude of splendid details of the Adoration and a wealth of comparative material. This English edition has been produced in association with the Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Annibale Carracci was the great genius of early Baroque painting in Italy, blighted by melancholia at the end of his life but full of promise and invention in his prime. This book concentrates on one of his most ambitious early works, the Venus, Adonis and Cupid in the Prado Museum, Madrid. The paintings has recently been cleaned and restored and this book establishes it as one of the great works of Annibale's career - and as a simply wonderful painting. More
Published to accompany the first substantial exhibition on the tradition of Spanish drawings to take place at The Courtauld Gallery, London, this catalogue captures the excitement and importance of this rapidly developing field of study. More
This is an overdue investigation into one of the most remarkable artistic enterprises of the seventeenth century, much cited but seldom discussed, David Teniers the Younger’s publication in 1660 of the magnificent Theatrum Pictorium or Theatre of Painting, the first illustrated and printed collection catalogue. More
This book examines the collecting practice and patronage of Camillo Massimo (1620–1677) in the context of the society that produced him, and demonstrates how his importance lies not simply in his own activities as a patron and collector, but in his role as an active force promoting particular artists and enterprises in Rome and in his legacy and impact on the following century. More
The recent rediscovery of Rubens’s Massacre of the Innocents offers an important opportunity to reassess the painter’s early career. Of Rubens’s works immediately following his return to Antwerp in 1608, it is the most assured, achieving a remarkable complexity both compositionally and emotionally. More
Over the course of the last forty years art historian Jonathan Brown has done more than anyone to reform our approach to the art of the Hispanic world between the age of El Greco and Velazquez and that of Goya. More
"What is remarkable about this volume is the number of quality reproductions of the artist's work that can be seen together for the first time. This collection of paintings demonstrates more comprehensively than ever before Elsheimer's extraordinary intuition for light and atmosphere..." Antiques Magazine More
Philip IV of Spain (ruled 1621-1665) was known as the 'Planet King', shining brightly in the universe of the arts even if the Golden Age of Spanish painting coincided with imperial decline. The Buen Retiro Palace surpassed any palace ever built in Europe for the collection of paintings it contained - Velázquez, Zurbarán, Rubens, Claude, Poussin.< More
This account concentrates on the controversial subject of Caravaggio's technique. It places his highly original innovations in the context of the scientific studies of the time, above all those orchestrated by his early patron, Cardinal Del Monte. This very close reading of Caravaggio's early works in the light of contemporary experimental thinking is richly illustrated with details and comparisons. More
Accompanying a unique exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, of the work of Nicolas Poussin and Cy Twombly, who sadly died on 5 July this year, this book is "so unusual and its theme so enduringly relevant, especially now, that it truly should not be missed" (The Spectator). More
A very handsome addition to any art library" (Art Times)
"There is a wealth of information, scholarly insight, and sound reasoning in this work, which serves as both a tribute to one man and a contribution to art history." (Library Journal Reviews) More
'Dutch Italianate painting’ is an important as well as appealing strand of landscape painting in the seventeenth century. Some of the artists who practised it – Jan Both, Jan Asselyn, Jan Baptist Weenix, Nicolaes Berchem – had visited Italy, others, most famously Aelbert Cuyp, had not. More
The Wallace Collection commemorated the 400th anniversary of Van Dyck's birth with this publication. The book examines Van Dyck's artistic achievement through the in-depth study of a selection of paintings, including portraits of Philippe le Roy, his teenage bride Marie de Raet and Isabelle Warbecke, wife of painter Paul de Vos, as well as his lyrical work, The Shepherd Paris. More
