The successful collaboration of Peter Paul Rubens and Balthazar Gerbier, seemingly artists but also political agents, culminated in an Anglo-Spanish peace treaty signed on 15 November 1630. The treaty was the high point of their diplomatic careers and was sealed when Rubens presented his own outstanding painting, Minerva protects Pax from Mars (Peace and War) to Charles I before he returned to Antwerp.
For the final ten months of the negotiations Rubens lodged with Gerbier and his family at the Duke of Buckingham’s York House overlooking the river Thames. The events surrounding Rubens’s stay with Gerbier bring their relationship into sharp focus, highlighting characteristics they shared and those that should have put a gulf between them. From the evidence of their correspondence and close working partnership Rubens and Gerbier remained friends for life, yet their characters were apparently opposites. Gerbier, unlike Rubens, was not guided by loyalty, a love for his country, nor a desire for peace. How was it possible for the highly perceptive and principled Rubens to ignore the unethical behaviour and deceptions of his friend?
The answer lies in the particular social structure and culture of the Netherlands and England in the first half of the seventeenth century when the spheres of fine art and connoisseurship coincided with diplomacy and statecraft. Three other paintings by Rubens are associated with his stay with Gerbier, all of which relate to each other in terms of materials, technique and subject matter. This paper examines the relationship between Gerbier and Rubens in the light of Rubens’s stay in London and analyses the paintings which in various ways reflect Rubens’s experience of living with Gerbier and his family at York House.
Lucy Whitaker (Independent Art Historian and Curator)
Lucy Whitaker was Senior Curator of Paintings at the Royal Collection Trust up until 2021. Previously, Lucy was the Curator of Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford, and the Research Assistant at the National Gallery, London. She has co-curated several exhibitions on Italian and Northern Renaissance art and later Italian art at The Queen’s Galleries, London and Edinburgh and contributed to many academic journals, books, and exhibition catalogues about the Royal Collection’s paintings. Lucy’s research interests include the history of Royal taste and collecting, historic displays, conservation and frames. She has published on Stuart collecting, especially at the court of Charles I and is preparing to publish an in-depth analysis of the collection of Charles II.
JOINING INSTRUCTIONS
Our speaker will present in person so do join us if you can. To register, please visit https://sas.sym-online.com/registrationforms/ihrbooking_collecting_and_display60466/done/
To attend in person: The seminar will take place in the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet St London WC1E 7HU. Please register with the Institute of Historical research by Sunday evening to let them know that you will be attending in person.
To attend online: Please register with the Institute of Historical Research by Sunday evening and you will be sent the zoom link on the day. If you do not receive the link and you wish to attend, please contact adrianaturpin@gmail.com. Some emails are still going to spam so if you do not get a reply on the day, please also email Adriana.
Please note: you need to register by Sunday evening.
Convenors: Susan Bracken, Andrea M. Gáldy, Adriana Turpin
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