The Garden of Love
oil on panel
the reverse marked with the coat-of-arms of the City of Antwerp, stamped with the panel maker's initials FDB (for Francois de Bout), and further bearing the monogram of King Philip IV of Spain
contained within a fine 18th century carved giltwood frame
72 x 100cm

The present painting is very possibly the preliminary worked up modello despatched by Rubens to King Philip IV of Spain for approval, prior to his completing and sending to Madrid, his 1632-4 masterpiece ‘The Garden of Love’ (on canvas, 198 by 283 cm) which is today in the Prado Museum, Madrid. Evidence to support this probability is the fact it is painted on an Antwerp panel with not only the brand of the city’s panel makers guild but also the initials of Francois de Bout (Fig. 1), a celebrated panel maker active there from the 1630s.

As well, and even more compelling, is the fact that the reverse of the panel bears the cypher of Philip IV himself (Fig. 2). It is highly unlikely that the present painting would have, on approval by the king, been returned to Antwerp for reference, in the completion of the final work. Another ‘ricordo’ of the composition would have been retained in the studio. Indeed, the presence of the royal cypher on the reverse implies that it remained in Spain and must have only sometime after the finished autograph masterpiece’s arrival, at some unknown date left the Royal Collection.

Rubens and his studio’s processes in presenting designs to patrons was never the same. As Friso Lammertse and Alejandro Vergara note in the catalogue of the exhibition ‘Rubens, Painter of Sketches’ ( Madrid Prado Museum and Rotterdam Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2018) on pages 49-50:
“Four centuries on the written sources allow us a glimpse of the artist and the way his designs were created…The impressions that emerge…must be handled with circumspection…His working method, depended on the end product…all called for a different approach. This…was dictated by whether or not assistants would be working on a particular piece…He must also have had to deal with his clients and patrons in different ways, depending among other things on their personalities and status.”

In the case of Philip IV, who ordered and commissioned large numbers of works from Rubens (whom he had ennobled in 1624 and who stayed at the Spanish court from 1628-9), he would have known that this preliminary design was Rubens’ own, not necessarily at this stage of the commission from his entire hand but that the final work itself would most certainly be so. Indeed, the finished work is considered one of Rubens’ supreme late masterpieces and was so admired by Philip that when first inventoried in 1666 (number 67) it was revealed to have been hanging in the recently deceased King’s bedroom.

It is interesting that even at this late stage of the composition being resolved, there is at least one noticeable pentimenti, where the nose of the leftmost female below the upper arch has been altered (Fig. 3). There is too a fingerprint in the hair of the lutanist below her (Fig. 4) and, as well, under-drawing can be discerned around putti in the upper left and right corners (Fig. 5 & Fig. 6). The presence of these, quite apart from the King’s cypher to the reverse, do suggest this is not just a later studio repeat version of the Prado picture.

There are apparently no known oil sketches for ‘The Garden of Love’, the composition no doubt having already been resolved by the time this worked up smaller scale modello was initially sent to Spain. The King needed to see a resolved composition and not small ‘sketchy’ preliminary ideas which were generally Rubens’ initial ‘thoughts’ for his own and the studio’s use. An exceptional and very large chalk drawing (56.3 by 31.7 cm.) however, by Rubens for the figure of his wife on the left most side of the composition, is today in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.

Condition Report

The painting is executed in oil on a wooden panel support formed from four boards in vertical alignment. The original tool marks are present on the reverse of the panel. The joins have been reinforced with thick paper and wooden buttons in areas. The panel has a slight horizontal curvature and is stable overall. The paint layers have been thinly and sketchily applied and are in a very good, stable condition overall. Small areas of retouching are present across the surface, mainly covering wear and abrasion, following the horizontal woodgrain. The retouching is finely handled and well matched to the original. The varnish is clear and even with a light layer of surface dust.