Among Rubens’ works devoted to religious subjects, the representation of saints plays an important role. Rubens created an artistic language fully adapted to the Counter-Reformation movement, which stressed the heroic, emotional and ascetic aspects of the saints’ lives. This depiction of St. Ignatius of Loyola was painted for the mother church of the Jesuit order in Rome, Il Gesù.
The founder of the Jesuits wears a brocaded chasuble and gazes ecstatically to the viewer’s right, where beams of heavenly light break through the clouds. His right hand is raised in a gesture of admonition; his left hand holds a copy of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, with a page open to their famous motto: “To the greater glory of God.” Ignatius, painted to be seen from below, is presented as a Christian hero, full of Baroque sentiment designed to strengthen worshippers in their belief and spur them to emulation.
Details
- Artist Name: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
- Title: Saint Ignatius of Loyola
- Date: c. 1620-22
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 88 x 54-1/2 in. (223.5 x 138.4 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1975.03.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
The Jesuit Church, Brussels (sale, Brussels, Lannoy, 12 May 1777, lot 2, sold to);
Donckers.
George Greville, 2nd Earl of Brooke and Warwick, by 1798.
By descent to Charles Guy Fulke Greville (1911-1984) 7th Earl of Warwick, Warwick Castle sale, (Sotheby's, London, 11 Dec. 1974, lot 36);
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
L'Art flamand dans les collections brittaniques et la Galerie National de Victoria
- Musée Communal Groeninge, 1956-08 to 1956-09
[on loan]
- Richmond, Virginia, Museum of Fine Arts, 1975-08-13 to 1976-01-15
Art Treasures of the United Kingdom
- Manchester, 1857-05-20 to 1857-10-17
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
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- Michel, J. F. M., Histoire de la Vie de P. P. Rubens, Chevalier, & Seigneur de Steen, 1771, pp. 69-70
- Gentleman's Magazine, 1798, p. 836
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- Burger, W., Trèsors d'Art Exposés à Manchester en 1857, 1857, p. 195
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- Lesuisse, R., Annales de la Societé Archéologique et Folklorique de Nivelles et du Barbant Wallon, 1966, pp. 281-317
- Vlieghe, H., Saints II [Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Buchard, Part VIII}, 1973, vol. 2, part 8, pp. 68-71, no. 113, fig. 36
- Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, 1979, pp. 242, 370
- Farington, Joseph, Diary of Joseph Farington, 1979, p. 1588
- Cohen, A.; R. Cohen, E. Young and E. Cohen, Trafalgar Galleries at the Royal Academy II, 1979, p. 13
- Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum, 1980, p. 47
- Scheelen, W., Konindlijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Jaarboek, 1986, pp. 153-172
- Buttery, David, Antique Collector, 1988, p. 42
- Jaffé, Michael, Catalogo Completo Rubens, 1989, p. 189, no. 203
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 40
- Bauman, Guy; and Walter A. Liedtke, et al., Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America, 1992, p. 364, fig. 424
- Liedtke, Walter, Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America, 1992, fig. 424 p. 364
- Roethlisberger, Marcel and M. J. Bok, Abraham Bloemart and his Sons. Paintings and Prints, 1993, vol. I, pp. 434-435, CAT. C27; vol II, p. 253, fig. 541pp. 434-435; p. 253
- Scannelli, F., Il Microcosmo della pittura, 1996, p. 205
- Morris, Michael, O.P., Magnificat, 2003, pp. I-VI
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1119 p. 373
- Sauerlander, Willihald, Der Katholische Rubens. Uber die Heilifien und Martyrer, 2011, Fig. 29 p. 87
- Sauerländer, Willibald, The Catholic Rubens: Saints and Martyrs, 2014, 29 p. 84
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