In Madrid, an extraordinary exhibition on Rubens is currently underway. Over 30 artworks are on display, all in one room within the Prado Museum. There are paintings by the master, some by his assistants, and others created through various degrees of collaboration between his pupils and the master.
The collaboration between the master and his students in the creation of paintings within the workshop is a long-debated topic among experts and a highly relevant one for the attribution and valuation of artworks.
But this is not all that makes this exhibition unique.
This exhibition has chosen to illustrate in an original and concrete way how European painters worked and how production was organized within the workshops.
Alejandro Vergara, curator of the museum’s Flemish and Northern schools section, had a brilliant idea and brought it it to life, in a magnificent way. This is the exhibition we always dreamt of visiting.
In the center of the room an installation has been set up that recreates a kind of Rubens’ “office”.
All the necessary tools for his work are on display, as well as some elements that evoke Rubens’ personality, such as a sword and a hat, made specifically for the exhibition, and inspired by those visible in his portraits. The attention to detail went so far as to recreate, thanks to a perfumery laboratory, the scent of turpentine, which we know from written testimonies was one of the most present in the workshops of the time. Not to forget a red silk velvet drapery at the entrance of the room, commissioned to a specialised factory in Italy to recreate the velvet drapery often visible in Rubens’ portraits.
But possibly the most interesting part is that visitors are being involved in the complex process of attributing artworks.
In addition to the possibility of seeing works by the master and by his workshop together and so allowing the visitors to directly compare their different levels of quality, real quizzes are proposed based on the exhibited paintings. For some of the works, the authorship is not indicated, and visitors are invited to try and determine whether they are works entirely by Rubens or produced by his workshop.
Which of the two paintings is by Rubens and which by his workshop?
In fact, although all the paintings that leave Rubens’ workshop bear his “stamp”, we know from the texts that have come down to us that the distinction between the original paintings entirely painted by the master and those produced by the workshop was also clear to Rubens’ contemporaries .
The attribution process is, in a way, laid bare. The necessary diagnostic is illustrated, and it is also acknowledged that in some cases, there are simply not enough elements to arrive at a certain conclusion because there are not enough data.
In summary again, a magnificent exhibition that in our opinion everyone should visit, not just Rubens enthusiasts.
