The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-15 00:00:00

RUBENS' ALLEGORIES.

As every circumstance having reference to the name
of this great artist must be deeply interesting, we uff,r
a short description of a work in which have been pre•
served, by a series of engravings, some temporary de-
signs by Rubens, which, but for this method of preser-
vation, had been lost after the occasion had been served
for which they were executed. It Las been supposed
that but ore copy of this work existed in England, and
that in the British Museum. We have been invited,
however, to inspect a second, which appears in a more
perfect condition than that in the library of the Mu-
! scum, inasmuch as the plates and the letter-press of
the latter are inconveniently separated, and bound in
two volumes. The letter. press is in Latin, and from
the pen of Gevartius, who, in the title of the book, has
taken up for himself a position in the foreground ; re-
lieving himself, as it were, by a passing mention of
Peter Paul Roberts, to whom much of the honour was
due ; and not even mentioning the engraver, Thulden,
whose merits, considering the state of his art at the time
at which he lived, were greater than those of Casperius
G,vartius. The title is curious ; and as it describes
charaderisticaliy the purpose of the designs, is extracted
at length :
Pompa introitus honari serenissimi Principis Fur-
dinandi Austriaci Hispaniarum Infhntis S.H.E. Cara
Belgarvum et Burgundionuna Gubernatoris, etc., A.S.
P.Q. Antverp. decreta et adornata ; cuin max a nobiliss-
ima ad Narlingan parta victoria, Antverpian auspicatis-

Simi aduento suo bearct, XV. Kai. IDD.
XXXV. Arcus, pegmata, Iconesq a Pet. Paulo Itu-
berds, equite inventas et delineatus inscriptionibfist et
elogiis ornabat. Libroq commentario illustrabat Cas-
perius Gevartius J. C. et Archgrammatmus Antverpia-
nus I aurea Caloana eodurn auctore Descripta Antverp,
etc.

That particular copy of this rare work, which is the
subject of this notice, is in the possession of Mr. Hil-
ton, of No. 8, Penton-street, Pentonville, and has been
the property of Sir James Thornhill, whose autograph,
with the date, 1724, appears upon the titl.2-page. Tee
size of the work is a large folio, and the plates are
forty-six in number ; arid, as being executed by one
hand, must have been in progress during a series of
years ; indeed, this is evidenced by the dffcrent dates
affixed to them. In, all Rubens" allegorical works his
alphabet is peculiarly his own, no less than that
extraordinary power which enabled him with such fa
cility, and with his own so strongly marked ma-
terial, to frame epic histories in such var;ety,
and yet so pertinent to a proposed subject. We
have, as usua', throughout the se plates the same fair
haired lady whom Rubens has so often celebrated upon
canvass, both as mortal and goddess ; and the same
littl • boys whom he loved so much to paint, that, not
contest with occasionally introducing them into works
like these, he went so far as to form a wreath of them
in a picture which is contained in the Louvre. Eteli of
these designs, as may be expected, proclaims the honour
and glory of those whom Gervartius has t•rrned the
" Austrian Caesars." The compliments they contain
are extravagant and fulsome, considering the merits of
the man whose triumphs they were intended to illus-
trate ; but this was not the fault of Rubens, who,
when once at work, could not help following
out the promptings of his enthusiasm, despite the
meagre virtues of thc,, person complimented. There
are accordingly representations of the homage of the
earth and the ocean; in which the hand of the Artist
is distinguishable not only in the manner; but by per-
fect repetitions of figures, found in his other works ;
for inst ince, " A Cybele" is the same as that in his
picture, " The Horrors of War," at Florence. They
have in Antwerp a particular method of giving
effect to designs of this kind. The triumphal
arches are constructed of a wooden framework,
over which is stretched cloth, painted so as exactly
to imitate stone : and in this manner was the
commemoration of Rubens celebrated last
year, but the designs upon this occasion were
altogether unworthy of the festival. One word of
Thulden's engraving ; some of the heads in these
prints are executed in a manner that would do honour
to any engraver of modern times ; the style is free—
precisely such as the drawing has been, but every line
is true and effective. Notwithstanding the continued
importation of rarities of every description trom the
Continent, this work is undoubtedly scarce in Eng-
. land ; but, notwithstanding this, modern artists base
found means to avail themselves of its contents, by
appropriating them with very little modification.—
Art- Union.