DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61252#0277
INTRODUCTION.
233
the influence of a foregone period in art, from which he
could not shake himself wholly free, Titan though he was;
and yet more from certain strong elements of his physical
nature, beyond the mastery of his intellect, strong as that
was. The genius was from heaven—the manifestation
sometimes of the earth, and bestial; but Rubens under-
stood himself, knew what it lay in him to do, and did it
confidently, joyously, spontaneously, and therefore it is,
that, with all his faults, he remains ever great, original,
and consistent with himself.
With Rubens the power of imitation equalled the rich-
ness of his invention. Whatever his mind could conceive,
his hand could execute; and whatever he beheld he could
represent better than any other man. History in every
department—scriptural, profane, poetical, and allegorical;
familiar subjects; portraits; animals, painted with a mas-
tery of hand and understanding of nature, as though they
had been the sole studies of a long life; landscapes, touched
with such a felicitous and airy carelessness, as though they
were the sport and refreshment of his graver occupations;—■
but then he painted them all as he conceived them, accord-
ing to his own nature, steeping them, as it were, in the
tincture of his own mind.
Fuseli says, somewhere, that it is far easier to say
nothing at all of Rubens, than to say little ; I will, there-
fore, venture to add here, some characteristic passages
written long ago, and which I find it easier to quote,
verbatim, than to attempt to clothe the same thoughts in
different words.
“ With regard to Rubens, there may exist a difference of
taste, but there cannot, I conceive, be two opinions. The
degree of pleasure we take in his works may depend more
or less on our sympathy with, and comprehension of, the
man, as a man: but assuredly every cultivated judgment,
formed on just principles of art, must, consistently with
233
the influence of a foregone period in art, from which he
could not shake himself wholly free, Titan though he was;
and yet more from certain strong elements of his physical
nature, beyond the mastery of his intellect, strong as that
was. The genius was from heaven—the manifestation
sometimes of the earth, and bestial; but Rubens under-
stood himself, knew what it lay in him to do, and did it
confidently, joyously, spontaneously, and therefore it is,
that, with all his faults, he remains ever great, original,
and consistent with himself.
With Rubens the power of imitation equalled the rich-
ness of his invention. Whatever his mind could conceive,
his hand could execute; and whatever he beheld he could
represent better than any other man. History in every
department—scriptural, profane, poetical, and allegorical;
familiar subjects; portraits; animals, painted with a mas-
tery of hand and understanding of nature, as though they
had been the sole studies of a long life; landscapes, touched
with such a felicitous and airy carelessness, as though they
were the sport and refreshment of his graver occupations;—■
but then he painted them all as he conceived them, accord-
ing to his own nature, steeping them, as it were, in the
tincture of his own mind.
Fuseli says, somewhere, that it is far easier to say
nothing at all of Rubens, than to say little ; I will, there-
fore, venture to add here, some characteristic passages
written long ago, and which I find it easier to quote,
verbatim, than to attempt to clothe the same thoughts in
different words.
“ With regard to Rubens, there may exist a difference of
taste, but there cannot, I conceive, be two opinions. The
degree of pleasure we take in his works may depend more
or less on our sympathy with, and comprehension of, the
man, as a man: but assuredly every cultivated judgment,
formed on just principles of art, must, consistently with