The Triumph of Henry IV

The Triumph of Henry IV (c. 1630) is a modello for Rubens's projected but never-completed cycle celebrating the reign of Henry IV of France, intended as a companion series to the twenty-four-painting Marie de Medici cycle he had completed for the Luxembourg Palace between 1622 and 1625. The Marie cycle — one of the greatest sustained decorative achievements of the seventeenth century — filled the eastern gallery of the Luxembourg Palace with allegorized scenes from the queen's life; the Henry IV cycle was to fill the western gallery with scenes from her late husband's reign. Political complications — specifically the escalating conflict between Marie de Medici and her son Louis XIII — prevented the commission from proceeding, leaving only preparatory sketches as evidence of what would have been a second masterpiece. The Metropolitan's modello preserves Rubens's compositional thinking for the triumph scene, demonstrating his ability to combine classical triumphal imagery with contemporary historical narrative in the grand allegorical format that he had perfected in the Luxembourg commission.

The oil sketch on panel shows Rubens's characteristic bravura in preliminary compositions — dynamic figures, swirling movement, and brilliant color all achieved with rapid, confident brushwork that captures the energy of the triumphal procession.

This modello for the unfinished Medici Gallery cycle at the Palais du Luxembourg shows Rubens's preparatory technique. The sketch on panel preserves the spontaneity of Rubens's initial conception. Minor conservation has stabilized the panel and cleaned the varnish.