Saint Gregory the great adoring the madonna
Peter Paul Rubens·1730
Historical Context
The subject of Saint Gregory the Great adoring the Madonna attributed to Rubens and dated 1730 raises the same posthumous attribution question as other works in this group. The combination of Gregory — one of the four Latin Fathers, patron of musicians and scholars — with the Virgin Mary was a devotional type used for altarpieces in monastic and collegiate churches. Gregory was often depicted in papal vestments, either in his scholarly capacity or in visionary communion with the Madonna, a subject that allowed painters to combine the majestic with the intimate.
Technical Analysis
The composition would arrange Gregory in papal robes before an apparition of the Virgin, his devotional posture contrasting with the heavenly radiance above. The Rubenesque palette of deep crimson, white, and gold would give the devotional scene a formal richness appropriate to its ecclesiastical function.
