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Lot Essay
This modello for the cartoon from which the tapestry was woven as the last in the series depicting the Life of Constantine the Great has been generally accepted as the work of Rubens since its acquisition by Professor Küss in 1952. The only dissenting opinion has been that of Michael Jaffé not published until 1989. Jaffé's rejection notwithstanding, there could be no reason to doubt the prevailing opinion of the great majority of Rubens connoisseurs who have pronounced on it over the last fifty years or so.
The Emperor Constantine (288 (?)- 337) is a crucial figure in European history, as he was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity following his vision or dream before the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. He reunited the Empire after his defeat of Licinius, Emperor of the East, in 323, and founded Constantinople as his capital in 330.
The circumstances that led Rubens to paint thirteen panels (of which twelve were used as prototypes for cartoons from which the tapestries were woven) depicting scenes from the momentous life of the Emperor Constantine are not known in detail. What is known is that by end of November 1622 four of the cartoons, executed in Rubens's studio, had arrived at the premises of the tapestry weaving firm run by Marc de Comans and François de la Planche in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel in Paris.
King Louis XII was closely involved; he wished to be the first (officially) to examine the cartoons; they had earlier been examined by nearly all of those who were 'charged by the king with public works', and Comans and La Planche were described as 'directeurs de la fabrique de tapissiers du Roy'. But it is not known whether the commission came from the King at the same time as his mother, Marie de Médicis, was contracting the artist to paint episodes from her life and that of her dead husband, or whether it resulted from an initiative from Rubens and the two Belgian tapestry makers. Certainly the subject matter was apt for the King of France, who like his predecessors, was known by the sobriquet 'the Most Christian'.
Seven panels, ordered by the King, had been completed by September 1625, when they were given as a departing present to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who had been negotiating in Paris over the Valtelline on behalf of his uncle Pope Urban VIII. The panel depicting The Death of Constantine was part of this gift.
Constantine died on 22 May 337 at Ancyrona, a suburb of Nicomedia (Izmit in modern Turkey), as he was about to lead a campaign against the Persians. Rubens may well have brought to mind Roman bas reliefs of funeral banquets when he devised the semi-recumbent Emperor and the grieving woman. The stricken Emperor hands the orb of sovereignty to his elder son, Constantine (later to be Emperor for three years) who stands between his two brothers, Constans and Constantius, each of whom received a third of their father's empire. The act is blessed by a bearded cardinal who holds a patriarchal cross. Rubens must have relied on a source other than the main authority on the Emperor's life for the presence of his sons at his death. Rubens would have drawn on his great expertise in Classical art for the correct rendering of the three brothers's costumes, the furniture and décor of the room.
All the other modelli were owned by Comans and La Planche, and were later in the collection of the ducs d'Orléans at the Palais Royal. This group included The Triumph of Rome, which however was never woven into a tapestry. It would thus seem likely then the Death of Constantine was executed after the despatch of the other modelli to Paris (Comans and La Planche having presumably contracted to buy them) and after it was decided that the Triumph of Rome would be excluded.
The Death of Constantine would thus has been the last of the series to be executed and was never sent to Paris. Indeed it remained unknown to the general public until acquired by Professor Küss. It is one of the smallest of the set; the square area of the support is slightly larger than that of the Labarum (sold at Christie's, New York, 12 January 1994, lot 104; two others from series having been sold at Christie's, London, 11 December 1992).
When it had been agreed that the Triumph of Rome was to be abandoned and that another design would have to replace it, Rubens took a support supplied by his favourite supplier of panels, Michiel Vriendt, and because it was larger than required, had it cut up. Thus Vriendt's monogram ended up perilously close to the left edge of the support, and the two hands, being the rest of Antwerp's coat of arms, would have been separated on another piece of the original support.
The Emperor Constantine (288 (?)- 337) is a crucial figure in European history, as he was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity following his vision or dream before the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. He reunited the Empire after his defeat of Licinius, Emperor of the East, in 323, and founded Constantinople as his capital in 330.
The circumstances that led Rubens to paint thirteen panels (of which twelve were used as prototypes for cartoons from which the tapestries were woven) depicting scenes from the momentous life of the Emperor Constantine are not known in detail. What is known is that by end of November 1622 four of the cartoons, executed in Rubens's studio, had arrived at the premises of the tapestry weaving firm run by Marc de Comans and François de la Planche in the Faubourg Saint-Marcel in Paris.
King Louis XII was closely involved; he wished to be the first (officially) to examine the cartoons; they had earlier been examined by nearly all of those who were 'charged by the king with public works', and Comans and La Planche were described as 'directeurs de la fabrique de tapissiers du Roy'. But it is not known whether the commission came from the King at the same time as his mother, Marie de Médicis, was contracting the artist to paint episodes from her life and that of her dead husband, or whether it resulted from an initiative from Rubens and the two Belgian tapestry makers. Certainly the subject matter was apt for the King of France, who like his predecessors, was known by the sobriquet 'the Most Christian'.
Seven panels, ordered by the King, had been completed by September 1625, when they were given as a departing present to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who had been negotiating in Paris over the Valtelline on behalf of his uncle Pope Urban VIII. The panel depicting The Death of Constantine was part of this gift.
Constantine died on 22 May 337 at Ancyrona, a suburb of Nicomedia (Izmit in modern Turkey), as he was about to lead a campaign against the Persians. Rubens may well have brought to mind Roman bas reliefs of funeral banquets when he devised the semi-recumbent Emperor and the grieving woman. The stricken Emperor hands the orb of sovereignty to his elder son, Constantine (later to be Emperor for three years) who stands between his two brothers, Constans and Constantius, each of whom received a third of their father's empire. The act is blessed by a bearded cardinal who holds a patriarchal cross. Rubens must have relied on a source other than the main authority on the Emperor's life for the presence of his sons at his death. Rubens would have drawn on his great expertise in Classical art for the correct rendering of the three brothers's costumes, the furniture and décor of the room.
All the other modelli were owned by Comans and La Planche, and were later in the collection of the ducs d'Orléans at the Palais Royal. This group included The Triumph of Rome, which however was never woven into a tapestry. It would thus seem likely then the Death of Constantine was executed after the despatch of the other modelli to Paris (Comans and La Planche having presumably contracted to buy them) and after it was decided that the Triumph of Rome would be excluded.
The Death of Constantine would thus has been the last of the series to be executed and was never sent to Paris. Indeed it remained unknown to the general public until acquired by Professor Küss. It is one of the smallest of the set; the square area of the support is slightly larger than that of the Labarum (sold at Christie's, New York, 12 January 1994, lot 104; two others from series having been sold at Christie's, London, 11 December 1992).
When it had been agreed that the Triumph of Rome was to be abandoned and that another design would have to replace it, Rubens took a support supplied by his favourite supplier of panels, Michiel Vriendt, and because it was larger than required, had it cut up. Thus Vriendt's monogram ended up perilously close to the left edge of the support, and the two hands, being the rest of Antwerp's coat of arms, would have been separated on another piece of the original support.