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Premium 18th century FRENCH SCHOOL after Pierre Paul RUBENS (1577 - …
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18th century FRENCH SCHOOL after Pierre Paul RUBENS (1577 - …
See original version (French)
Lot no. 7
Description
18th century FRENCH SCHOOL after Pierre Paul RUBENS (1577 - 1640)
Thomyris, Queen of the Scythians, dips Cyrus' head in a vase filled with blood
Oil on canvas
135 x 200 cm
Frame 166 x 235 cm
(restorations)
Historical background
This is an episode from the war between the Persian king Cyrus II the Great and Thomyris, Queen of the Scythians. Defeated and decapitated, the king's head is plunged into a vat of blood to keep him eternally satisfied with his legendary cruelty. The scene takes place in the throne room of Thomyris's palace, an architectural fantasy with Solomonic columns. A group of soldiers and warriors, dressed in Oriental and Turkish fashion, have probably just brought in the tortured head of Cyrus. At the foot of the queen's platform, accompanied by her attendants and two pages holding her train, an executioner is preparing to plunge her into a basin filled with blood, which a greyhound seems intent on sniffing and licking.
Commentary:
Our painting is an early remake of a picture by the Antwerp painter Peter Paulus Rubens (1577-1640). The original work, dating from the 1st quarter of the 17th century, is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Rubens executed another variant, around 1620-25, in a work now in the Musée du Louvre. Rubens's painting, with its rich colours, formal inventiveness and delightful orientalism, quickly became very famous, and this was reinforced by the distribution of engravings. This reputation is attested to by the large number of copies or paintings inspired in whole or in part by Rubens' painting.
Attributable to a painter belonging to the French school in the 18th century, our painting, which is close to the original composition, was probably executed after an engraving by the Antwerp artist Paulus Pontius (1603-1638). A collaborator of Rubens, he reproduced many of the latter's works in print form, including this episode from the history of the Persian Empire.
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