When Rubens left Antwerp in 1601 for Rome,
he was a minor painter working in a late mannerist idiom.
By the time he left Rome in 1608, he was on his way to greatness. The starting gun had been fired
on a meteoric career that would transform the language of Western art. The subject of this picture is
Saint Sebastian, a soldier in the Praetorian Guard
of Emperor Diocletian, but also a Christian. And when that was discovered,
Diocletian ordered that he be shot to death by archers from his own regiment. Just look at the way
in which Rubens has handled the white cloth
sprinkled with the martyr's blood. Look at the quickfire brushstrokes. It's got all the hallmarks of Rubens in the first flush of his maturity,
a composition which emphasizes the tenderness of the relationship
between the dazed martyr and the angel who so tenderly withdraws
the arrow from his chest. Look at the way too,
in which the other angel is untying his legs. We know that Rubens painted a version
of Saint Sebastian for his great Genoese patron, Ambrogio Spinola, defender
of the Catholic faith, a mercenary soldier who fought the Protestant
Dutch long and hard. I think Spinola must have really responded
to this because reading his letters from the long campaigns in Holland,
we know that he himself felt something of a martyr,
more than something of a martyr. And look at that great suit of armor
next to the Saint, that’s surely meant to stand in for Spinola,
the general himself. This is a wonderful, wonderful early work
by Rubens at the height of his powers. Around a decade after painting,
his Saint Sebastian, Rubens played host to
two leading Flemish painters in his Antwerp studio. One was Anthony Van Dyck. The other was Jacob Jordaens. And between them
they must be counted, after Rubens, the two greatest artists
of the Flemish Baroque. Jacob Jordaens painted
this startlingly original, Ecce Homo, in around 1619-20, and it's a picture
that's only recently come to light. It has the appearance of a sketch,
but it is indeed a finished picture. A nocturne,
one of the earliest really accomplished nocturnes in Jordaens career. It's as if the figures have been perceived by the artist
in the here and now of this moment. And interestingly, he's adjusted
the composition as he worked. Originally there were just three figures, but feeling that wasn't enough, he added the fourth figure
to the right of the painting to complete it, to balance it. And what a contrast this image makes
with Rubens’ Saint Sebastian. Rubens is so classical, so statuesque, whereas Jordaens it's all about real life,
real characters snatched in the moment. These are people you can believe in. So there you have it.
An early painting by Rubens, an early painting by Jordaens,
both great works of art, and they're both in the same Old Master
sale on the 5th of July.
