DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70030#0344
THE MARRIAGE OF MARY DE MEDICIS.
for the pallet to furnish more brilliant tints than those he
has employed, and combined in the most harmonious
manner.
Mary de Medicis has a robe of white satin. The dress
of the grand duke is of the same stuff and colour:—-his
mantle is black; and the pontifical habits of the cardinal
are of a lively red. Gold and precious stones glitter on
the draperies of these figures, and are painted with a
boldness of touch that is almost illusive. In order that
the dresses of the nobles and princesses, present at the
ceremony, might not equal in splendour those of the
principal personages, Rubens has given to their attire
soft and broken colours, which assort with each other.
Hymen has a drapery of faint blue. The carpet is red,
as likewise the throne, which is perceptible at the top of
the picture.
Among this assemblage of brilliant tones, the group
of white marble would have appeared cold, if Rubens
had not conceived the ingenious idea of enlightening
the inferior part, by torches placed upon the altar.
They communicate, to this group, tints of a ruddy hue,
which imperceptibly combine with the grey tints of the
marble, and give to this part of the work all the vigour
of which it is susceptible.
This picture is one of the most admirable of this valu-
able collection. The heads are portraits adopted in the
true and dignified taste of history. The correctness of
the expressions, the beauty of the composition, the
freshness and truth of the carnations, are such as to
surpass all eulogium.
for the pallet to furnish more brilliant tints than those he
has employed, and combined in the most harmonious
manner.
Mary de Medicis has a robe of white satin. The dress
of the grand duke is of the same stuff and colour:—-his
mantle is black; and the pontifical habits of the cardinal
are of a lively red. Gold and precious stones glitter on
the draperies of these figures, and are painted with a
boldness of touch that is almost illusive. In order that
the dresses of the nobles and princesses, present at the
ceremony, might not equal in splendour those of the
principal personages, Rubens has given to their attire
soft and broken colours, which assort with each other.
Hymen has a drapery of faint blue. The carpet is red,
as likewise the throne, which is perceptible at the top of
the picture.
Among this assemblage of brilliant tones, the group
of white marble would have appeared cold, if Rubens
had not conceived the ingenious idea of enlightening
the inferior part, by torches placed upon the altar.
They communicate, to this group, tints of a ruddy hue,
which imperceptibly combine with the grey tints of the
marble, and give to this part of the work all the vigour
of which it is susceptible.
This picture is one of the most admirable of this valu-
able collection. The heads are portraits adopted in the
true and dignified taste of history. The correctness of
the expressions, the beauty of the composition, the
freshness and truth of the carnations, are such as to
surpass all eulogium.