The grammar of the human body is central to Rubens\u2019s pictorial production \u2013 studied from life, explored in ancient models and interpreted in light of the lessons of the Renaissance masters, among whom a few artists stand out in particular.<\/p>\n
First of all is Michelangelo, an artist already admired by Northern European Mannerists like Hendrick Goltzius, who were well known to Rubens before his trip in Italy. The artist\u2019s astonishing interpretation of the famed Belvedere Torso in the red-pencil drawing in the Metropolitan Museum originated from his study of Michelangelo\u2019s work and his personal observation of the Sistine Chapel. On the other hand, as regards anatomy and motion, Rubens learned from Leonardo, whom he discovered ex novo in Madrid, which he visited (1603\u201304) during his formative sojourn in Italy. In Spain, Rubens probably had access to Leonardo\u2019s drawings, which were still in the hands of the sculptor Pompeo Leoni and which he studied avidly.<\/p>\n
In his Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion in the Louvre, the hero\u2019s muscular Michelangelesque labour would be unthinkable without Leonardo\u2019s lesson on strength. It also heralds the twisting seen in Bernini\u2019s work, which would become typical of Baroque sculpture. The muscular hypertrophy of Rubens\u2019s heroes is contagious, perhaps because it is inspired by ancient statues of those same heroes, including the Laoco\u00f6n and Farnese Hercules. Indeed, masculine figures such as Samson Captured by the Philistines in Munich even seem to be evoked in the mighty pose of Bernini\u2019s Pluto, in a rare mirroring of \u201cbetrayal and abduction\u201d that confirms the common aspiration of early seventeenth-century painting and sculpture to find new narrative forms to depict the drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The grammar of the human body is central to Rubens\u2019s pictorial production \u2013 studied from life, explored in ancient models and interpreted in light of the lessons of the Renaissance masters, among whom a few artists stand out in particular. First of all is Michelangelo, an artist already admired by Northern European Mannerists like Hendrick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-approfondimenti"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n