In the book The Power of Art, Simon Shama compares Pu Sang and Rubens like this: "Pu Sang is a rock and Rubens is a body; Pu Sang is the key, and Rubens is singing. Pu Sang is an ascetic, while Rubens is a sensualist; Pu Sang seldom uses color, while Rubens uses color a lot. Pu Sang's lines are tough, while Rubens's curves are full and his plump and juicy body is sideways. "
In the History of Western Art for All, Jiang Xun summed up Rubens in this way: "Rubens circulated between kings and nobles with his outstanding artistic talent, painted portraits for them and rendered magnificent deeds for their lives. He created colorful pictures with exquisite oil painting skills, and even the picture of "Christ under the cross", a religious theme that should be full of sadness and suffering, was regarded as a beautiful effect by Rubens. . . . . . Rubens turned baroque art into pure visual enjoyment, and art was no longer serious and heavy. . . . . . Courts all over the world rushed to invite Rubens, who lived a life of food and clothing and was pampered in the mansion of princes and nobles. There are even many disciples and assistants to help him with his busy business. He is the most successful example in the history of European art. Rubens is happy, gorgeous, healthy and bright, and his world is neither sad nor dark, nor frustrated or sentimental. He created a very plump female body beauty, showing strong vitality and pursuit of a happy life with a plump and white body. "
For the dispute between Pu Sang School and Rubens School, a simple and superficial understanding is that Pu Sang emphasizes sketch and Rubens emphasizes color; A deeper understanding admits that the two masters are perfect in sketch and color. The difference is that Pu Sang prefers meditation and philosophical thinking, and is a master of classical tradition, while Rubens is radical and unrestrained, and is the "king of baroque painting".
If we only look at Rubens' works without considering his life and the era in which he lived, then it is really easy for us to agree with the views on Rubens listed above. However, once we associate his works with his life and the era in which he lived, we will find a different Rubens, and we will have a different understanding of Rubens' works, especially those unique "plump and white bodies" of Rubens' works, which not only "show strong vitality and pursue a happy life", but also contain deeper and more lasting implications.
Rubens (1577- 1640) is from the Netherlands; There is a historical event that completely covered Rubens' life in time span, that is, the Dutch War of Independence, also known as the "Eighty Years War" (1568- 1648). Except 1609 to 162 1, the warring parties temporarily maintained peace according to the armistice agreement, and the Netherlands has been devastated by war, famine, plague, mutiny, religious persecution, political disputes and trade blockade. At the same time, other parts of Europe are not peaceful, and religious persecution and wars, large and small, are one after another. The "Thirty Years' War" from 16 18 to 1648 involved most countries in the European continent in a cruel and protracted war. From a more macroscopic point of view, it was the time when the "Little Ice Age" ravaged the northern hemisphere in the late Ming Dynasty. Extremely cold weather, agricultural failure and plague (Black Death) haunt, and the extremely bad living environment stimulates and magnifies the cruelty and barbarity of human nature.
Rubens' world is definitely not "without sadness and darkness, without depression and sentimentality": 1568, Rubens' parents gave up their beautiful life and fled their hometown of Antwerp, the Netherlands, in order to escape religious persecution; 1587, when Rubens was about ten years old, his father Jane Rubens died in Cologne, Germany. 1608, Rubens' mother died in Antwerp; 16 1 1 year, my brother Philip, who was very close to Rubens, died young at the age of 37. 1623, Clara selena, Rubens' daughter, died at the age of 12; 1626, Rubens' wife, 35-year-old isabella brant, died of the plague. Rubens, who has always loved painting, was heartbroken and wrote for more than a year. 1630, although Rubens promoted the peace treaty between Britain and Spain as the special envoy of Spain, the peace between North and South Holland originally planned by Rubens and promoted by the alliance of Britain and Spain did not appear, and the war and military blockade continued. 1633, Duchess Isabella, a good friend and patron of Rubens and a good ruler of West Holland, died, and the last hope of peace was dashed; 1635, Rubens had to stay in bed because of gout. On May 3 1640, Rubens died of "heart strain caused by malaria fever and gout for several days".
Therefore, Rubens, like many contemporaries, experienced terrible sadness and darkness, and after many experiences, his works are still stubbornly full of vitality and enthusiasm. This is amazing and curious. What kind of philosophy of life supports Rubens' spiritual world, which is not swallowed up by darkness from beginning to end and always maintains abundant sunshine? What are the implications of those bright and plump bodies?
In the above three paintings, Rubens lost his beloved wife Isabella, his beloved daughter Clara and his younger brother Philip (a man sitting with a pen and looking at the viewer).
In this painting entitled "Lipsius and His Students", Rubens himself stood respectfully beside Philip; In other words, Rubens considered himself a student of Lipsius, and his philosophy of life largely came from Lipsius's theory. So, who is this teacher named Lipsius sitting next to Philip? His full name is Eustace Lipsius (1547- 1606), a Dutch humanist and a professor at the University of Leuven. He was called "the most learned man of our time" by the contemporary French thinker Montaigne (1533- 1592). Lipsius compiled the works of Seneca and Tacitus in ancient Rome, which combined Stoicism, Tacitus, Skepticism and Christianity, and provided a new world view for people struggling in turmoil and anxiety, which was called "Neo-Stoicism". "Neo-Stoicism" gives elite intellectuals philosophical comfort and realistic solutions. This made Lipsius "the most widely read and influential thinker of that era"; His thoughts influenced the Rubens brothers (Philip is considered to be Lipsius's favorite student) and later philosophers Spinoza and Hobbes. There is a Eustace Lipsius building in Brussels, which is named after him.
What is Neo-Stoicism? What kind of philosophy of life does it mean for Rubens? Before answering these two questions, let's get to know Seneca and Tacitus. By the way, among Lipsius and his students, the sculpture behind the tulip vase is a bust of seneca. In Rubens' studio, the most conspicuous and important place is the bust of seneca; Around seneca, there are statues of Athena and Hermes. The former is the goddess of wisdom and art, while the latter is the patron saint of eloquence, painters and diplomats. Visible seneca's position in Rubens' heart.
Seneca (about 4-65 BC) was a Stoic philosopher, politician, tragic writer and orator. He served as an official during the reign of four Roman emperors, Tiberius, caligula, Claudius and Nero, and successively served as an imperial accountant, a veteran of the Senate, a consul and a mentor and consultant of Emperor Nero. He wrote many works in his life, including "65,438+02 talks and papers on morality, 65,438+024 essays on moral letters and natural problems, and 9 tragedies and other literary works." In the history of western culture, Seneca's position is a bit like Rainbow Yangming in China culture ("unmoved" is just the similarity between Stoicism and Yangming's mind).
Seneca (and a typical Stoic) believed that happiness can be sought through wisdom. The wisdom mentioned here refers to "a kind of wisdom that dominates what human beings can do with decent adaptation and accepts what they can't do."
Why do you want to do this? The metaphysical basis of Stoicism lies in: the world and people all contain a part of God's entity, "God is among all things", God is the soul of the world, and everyone's soul is a part of God; In this way, individual people and things are connected into a whole through the same point of divinity, and all things and people are under the control of God. Whether we accept it or not, everything will inevitably happen in its proper way. "All people are citizens of the same mankind." The progress of the world is like a grand drama. God is the author and director of this play. He decides the development of the plot and he also decides everyone's role. We are all actors in the same play. So "people's wisdom lies in realizing what our role is in this play and playing this role well."
Seneca has some famous sayings, such as:
Life is like a script: what matters is not the length, but whether the performance is wonderful or not.
Youth is not a period of life, but a state of mind.
"If a person doesn't know where he is going, then no wind is downwind";
"There is no art more difficult than life, because other arts and knowledge can find ideal teachers everywhere";
"Yes, fate leads the way; Unwilling, fate dragged away. "
In his later years, seneca relied on his wisdom and experience to try to offset the chaos and destruction caused by the tyrant Nero and maintain the operation of the Roman Empire. In 65 AD, Nero's perverse behavior aroused many people's resistance, and Nero himself fell into hysterical suspicion and panic. Seneca's nephew, poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, failed to assassinate Nero. Nero, who was suspicious, thought that seneca was involved in planning the murder, so he let him commit suicide. According to Tacitus, an ancient Roman historian, Seneca saw his relatives and friends crying, so he "asked where their philosophy went and their spirit of encouraging each other for many years." Then he calmly cut off his blood vessels and ended his life. In about 16 14, Rubens painted an oil painting called "The Death of seneca" to commemorate the old philosopher who died with great dedication. The Stoic School was founded in Keating City by Zhi Nuo (334 BC-262 BC), and Zhi Nuo was "inspired by Socrates' ethics and life when he was young". "seneca lived his own philosophy of life at the end of his life. Like Socrates, he controlled his emotions in the face of death and provided a model for Stoicism.
Tacitus (A.D. 55- 120), a historian who provided seneca's dead languages records, was also a favorite figure of Rubens. According to the records of Otto Sperling, a Danish court doctor who visited Rubens' studio, Rubens "will make actors read Tacitus' history books, such as background music, and dictate letters to the secretary at the same time. All this did not stop him from warmly greeting guests and answering questions, and his work never stopped. "Lipsius's Six Theories on Politics published in 1589 quoted a lot of Tacitus' quotations, and was called" a learned and hard-working masterpiece "by Montaigne.
Tacitus inherited and developed Li Wei's tradition and achievements in Roman historiography, and was regarded as the greatest historian in ancient Rome. If Li Jue, the author of History since the Founding of Rome, is compared to Zuo Qiuming, the author of Zuoshi Chunqiu, Tacitus is equivalent to Sima Qian in Roman historiography. Tacitus' Chronicle of History, from the year of 14 (the death of Augustus and the succession of Tiberius) to the year of 96 (the death of Titus Flavius Domitianus), roughly recorded the history of the Roman Empire in the century of/Kloc-0.
Tacitus' historical achievements are reflected in three aspects: objectively recording historical facts, clearly expressing the views of love and hate, concise and flexible writing, and beautiful and vivid writing. When recording historical facts, he maintained the consciousness of "not complaining or being partial, being detached from things and rejecting all kinds of bad motives", which made his works gain high real credibility. When expressing personal views, just like Sima Qian's Taishi Gong Gong Yue in Historical Records, expressing one's mind directly naturally reveals one's hatred of corruption, ugliness and hypocrisy, and praises loyalty, friendship and courage. Tacitus' literary achievements are quite high. Historians of later generations rated him as "Tacitus' portrayal of characters is unparalleled in ancient and modern times". In addition, Tacitus' aphorisms are concise and profound, and are widely read by later generations. Montaigne praised Tacitus' chronicle as "a book of research and study, and there are mottos everywhere ... a nursery of ethical and political views".
European courts and elite intellectuals have always attached great importance to the history of ancient Rome, because ancient Rome, which once turned the Mediterranean into its own inner lake, not only provided reference for literature, martial arts and politics, but also was a treasure house of literature and cultural civilization, among which Tacitus' works were definitely the first choice. Tacitus is neither a philosopher nor a political scientist. He himself did not put forward Tacitus (just as Machiavelli himself did not put forward machiavellianism, ironically, the first thing every machiavellianism person did was criticize machiavellianism).
The "Tacitus Doctrine" appeared because emperors, ministers, popes, bishops and cultural elites all studied Tacitus' historical works. Learners have different identities, status and motivations, which can be divided into "black Tacitus" (for example, autocratic monarchs learn how to play politics), "red Tacitus" (for example, radicals learn how to resist autocracy) and "pink Tacitus" (for example, political elites learn how to find under sinister autocracy.
From 16 to 17, European intellectuals faced persistent Christian confrontation, religious disputes, political darkness and social injustice, while scholasticism and ancient Greek and Roman philosophy could not effectively provide spiritual comfort and realistic solutions. The intellectual elite urgently needs a new philosophy that is in harmony with Christian teachings. Lipsey Uss met this demand, and his great contribution lies in the integration of Stoic philosophy, Tacitus, skepticism and Christian teachings: replacing the "natural God" in Stoic philosophy with Christian God, remaining suspicious of religious fanaticism and incitement, advocating caution in the undercurrent political whirlpool, not taking risks with his own body, but not colluding with others. Thus, Lipsius laid the foundation of neo-Stoicism philosophy, that is, he realized that evil things such as war, plague, religious persecution and tyrants are part of the human condition, and also part of God's plan to save the whole world. "Whatever is predestined will inevitably happen". Therefore, we should regard "indifference and detachment" as the most important virtue, use reason and cultivate good emotions, and rely on patience, perseverance and tenacity.
Neo-Stoicism is the philosophy of life pursued by Rubens all his life, which also makes him and the elites with the same beliefs become close friends and establish a very deep friendship. It is this philosophy of life, coupled with his sound and complete personality and extroverted personality, that makes Rubens an open-minded and enterprising person, and enables Rubens to give full play to his artistic talent, academic accomplishment, communication ability, business wisdom and organizational ability. Rubens not only overcame difficulties and pains, but also achieved a happy life in decadent and troubled times. Moreover, his success and happiness have reached a dazzling height, and his works are always filled with exciting vitality and enthusiasm, so that many people mistakenly think that his life is "neither sad nor dark, nor frustrated nor sentimental". In troubled times, Rubens also lost his relatives and suffered setbacks. He just told himself not to immerse himself in darkness and sadness for a long time, and relied on the indifference, detachment, persistence and tenacity brought by Christian faith and neo-Stoic philosophy again and again to soothe his pain and start over.
When it comes to Rubens' works, many people's instinctive reaction is the beauty of plump and white women's bodies; This rich and white beauty, in addition to "showing exuberant vitality and the pursuit of a happy life", also has a hope for peace. There is no doubt that this is Rubens' peace message to King Charles I of England when he was in London in 1630.
In the center of the picture, a plump white woman (according to iconology, it should be Venus) symbolizing "peace" is breastfeeding the baby; By her side, Minerva (Athena), the goddess of wisdom wearing a helmet, is struggling to drive away the myth of Mars, the heavily armed god of war, and his partner Nemesis. In the distant sky, the shadow shaped like a bat symbolizes the plague accompanied by war; Cupid was about to crown peace with olives, and the snake stick in his other hand symbolized healing. Children fled from the shadow of war to "peace"; Sadie the leg of lamb takes out fresh fruit from the rich cup; A leopard is lying on the ground, playfully fiddling with vines; The beautiful woman holding the tambourine symbolizes art and entertainment, and another beautiful woman holding a golden basin full of pearls and gold utensils symbolizes wealth.
Venus, the plump and white goddess of love symbolizing peace, is in sharp contrast with the dark and thin nemesis; Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, pushed away the myth of Mars, the reckless god of war; This is how Rubens expressed his love for peace with vivid painting language. His teacher, Lipsius, used wise words to persuade the kings to end the war through peaceful contracting, because "winning the war is more glorious, not necessarily more advantageous, and it is better to adopt wisdom and restraint. Because victory will bring a lot of misfortune, and tyranny will follow. Be careful. "
Dana has a passage in "Philosophy of Art: Dutch Painting", which describes the tragic situation of the Netherlands before the 12 armistice:
We must look at the details of the war in order to understand the contrast between pre-war and post-war. Under Charles V, 50,000 people died of religion; 654.38+08,000 people were executed by the Duke of Alba; Subsequently, the people rose up. 13. The Spanish have besieged major cities for a long time and can only capture them by means of lack of food. At the beginning of the war, Antwerp was besieged for three days, 7,000 bourgeois died and 500 houses were burned. Soldiers get a raise on the spot; As can be seen from the prints at that time, they ran amok, ransacked houses, raped men, insulted women and packed away box furniture. Soldiers are stationed in the city when they are in arrears for too long; This is the world of robbers; They set up leaders and went to four villages to do whatever they wanted. Kaleel Van Mandel, a painter's biography, returned to his village one day and found that his home was robbed together with others'. The bedding on the sick old father's bed was taken away. Karel himself was stripped naked and tied with a rope around his neck to be hanged, but a cavalry he knew in Italy saved him. On another occasion, he and his wife took the baby on the road, and their money, luggage, clothes, women's clothes and baby's swaddling clothes were robbed; Mother only has a short skirt, baby only has a broken net, and Karel only has a tattered old woolen cloth to cover her body; That's what they wore when they arrived in Bruges. A place can only be destroyed in this case; Even those soldiers are starving to death. The Duke of Palma wrote to Philip II, saying that if the aid didn't come, the army would be finished: "Because you can't live without eating."
In 17th century Europe, wars, famines and plagues raged, and peace was precious. Being full meant happiness, while being fat for nothing meant beauty (partly because it meant higher social status and quality of life). 2 1 century, the vast majority of human beings have never experienced famine, and high-fat and high-calorie foods exist in large quantities. Overtime, no time for exercise, no money to go on holiday and bask in the sun, you will be fat in vain; If you have money and leisure, you can often go to the beach to bask in the sun, go to the gym to get a tan, and be thin (this is considered beautiful, partly because it implies a higher social status and quality of life).
Then why does Botticelli, Raphael and Titian's Venus have a well-proportioned proportion, which still conforms to the public's aesthetic vision? This is the difference between Italian painting and Nederland painting in aesthetic pursuit: Italian painting is further idealized and beautified on the basis of ancient Greek human beauty, striving to express a perfect human body; Nederland's paintings are devoted to depicting the natural and true beauty in real life, including scenery, folk customs, still life and human body. Rubens painted women very plump, because this is his personal view of femininity, and because in the first half of the17th century, Flanders' traditional understanding of beauty was like this. "
Rubens is a master and innovator of painting art in17th century. He mastered the essence of classical plastic arts and Renaissance Italian painting (Florence sketch and Venice color), absorbed the advantages of Karachi and Caravaggio, carried forward the natural and true tradition of Dutch painting, and finally created his own unique and vivid painting language.
In this artistic pursuit, it is particularly noteworthy that Rubens has done a lot of sketches and copies of classical sculptures and famous Renaissance paintings (especially Titian's works). He has been "buying replicas of Renaissance art" and "studying their forms and compositions in his spare time and making changes he thinks fit". These changes are often only a few strokes, but they can inject a vivid sense of life into the picture. Persisting in doing this for a long time has brought Rubens two particularly great benefits: first, he has established an unusually large and high-quality visual material library, which is convenient for him to find inspiration or call material resources when creating; Second, Rubens often makes his own ideas and drafts, and then lets many apprentices and assistants draw them. Finally, he will modify, polish and finalize them himself. In this stage of revision, retouching and finalization, Rubens can use the skill of "turning decay into magic" that he has practiced for many years to inject texture and life into his works.
Rubens left more than 3,000 works with extremely rich themes. These great works are full of his love and enthusiasm for life, reflecting his observation and discovery of nature, dynamic structure and modeling, warm color expression, strong contrast between light and shade, and subtle harmony between light and shadow; They had a great influence on many French painting masters: first, the representative figures of Rococo style, Hua Tuo and Boucher; Then there are romantic masters Delacroix and Girico; Then the impressionist painter Renoir. In his diary, Delacroix often mentioned Rubens: "He dominated you and conquered you with extraordinary freedom and innovative courage." Renoir declared after the completion of The Woman in the Bath: "If Rubens sees this painting, he will be very satisfied!"
In Rubens, Christine Belgin, an expert in Rubens-related fields, brilliantly presents Rubens as an artist, collector, diplomat, classical scholar and successful businessman. Finally, Belgin gave the following conclusions:
"In short, it is no accident that painters, art critics and modern art historians have always spoken highly of Rubens. Painters are amazed at his ability to inject life into his expressions, his creativity and the number of works; Art historians admire his creativity, wisdom and erudition. It is precisely because they understand the painting traditions that they appreciate Rubens' practice of these traditions-his practice is dexterous, sincere and creative. "
Dana said, "There is only one Rubens in Flanders, just as there is only one Shakespeare in England. No matter how great other painters are, they always lack some talents. "
Peiresc, a good friend of Rubens, a French scholar, archaeologist and expert on ancient cultural relics, declared: "I don't think there is a more lovely soul in the world than Mr. Rubens."
The more you know about Rubens, the more you will agree with perris.