Rubens painting ‘The Allegory of Peace’
Luca Giordano·1660
Historical Context
Among Giordano's most unusual surviving compositions, this enormous canvas depicts Peter Paul Rubens himself at work on his celebrated Allegory of Peace and War — the painting Rubens presented to Charles I of England in 1630, now in the National Gallery London. Painted around 1660, this homage reflects the extraordinary status Rubens held for the generation that followed him: not merely a great painter but an archetype of the complete artist-diplomat. Giordano had studied Rubens's works in Neapolitan collections, and when he arrived in Spain in 1692 found himself surrounded by the most important Rubens holdings in the world, assembled by the Spanish crown. Producing a tribute at this scale — 337 by 414 centimeters — was both artistic confession and competitive statement from a painter who understood himself as Rubens's rightful heir in the decorative grand manner.
Technical Analysis
The painting-within-a-painting creates a complex visual dialogue between Giordano's style and Rubens'. The studio setting is rendered with naturalistic observation while the depicted Rubens painting provides a secondary compositional level.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the painting-within-a-painting structure: Giordano depicts Rubens at work on one of his most famous compositions, creating a visual dialogue between the two painters' styles.
- ◆Look at how Giordano's handling engages with Rubens's style: the studio contains both Giordano's manner and his representation of Rubens's distinctive approach, creating a rare comparison.
- ◆Find the homage embedded in the subject: Giordano — who absorbed more from Rubens than from almost any other artist — here makes his admiration explicit by depicting the Flemish master at work.
- ◆Observe that this Prado homage was created during Giordano's Spanish period, when he was regularly compared to Rubens: Spanish collectors and critics saw Giordano as Rubens's natural successor, and this painting acknowledges that lineage.
