The Dutch - Spanish connection................

The Marie de’ Medici Cycle and diplomatic missions (1621–1630)[edit]

Main article: Marie de’ Medici cycle

In 1621, the Queen Mother of France, Marie de’ Medici, commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband,Henry IV, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The Marie de’ Medici cycle (now in the Louvre) was installed in 1625, and although he began work on the second series it was never completed.[15] Marie was exiled from France in 1630 by her son, Louis XIII, and died in 1642 in the same house in Cologne where Rubens had lived as a child.[16]

After the end of the Twelve Years’ Truce in 1621, the Spanish Habsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with a number of diplomatic missions.[17] While in Paris in 1622 to discuss the Marie de’ Medici cycle, Rubens engaged in clandestine information gathering activities, which at the time was an important task of diplomats. He relied on his friendship withNicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc to get information on political developments in France.[18] Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens’ diplomatic career was particularly active, and he moved between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring peace between the Spanish Netherlands and the United Provinces. He also made several trips to the northern Netherlands as both an artist and a diplomat.

At the courts he sometimes encountered the attitude that courtiers should not use their hands in any art or trade, but he was also received as a gentleman by many. Rubens was raised by Philip IV of Spain to the nobility in 1624 and knighted by Charles I of England in 1630. Philips IV confirmed Rubens’ status as a knight a few months later.[18]Rubens was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1629.[19]

The Fall of Man 1628–29. Prado, Madrid

Rubens was in Madrid for eight months in 1628–1629. In addition to diplomatic negotiations, he executed several important works for Philip IV and private patrons. He also began a renewed study of Titian’s paintings, copying numerous works including the Madrid Fall of Man (1628–29).[20]During this stay, he befriended the court painter Diego Velázquez and the two planned to travel to Italy together the following year. Rubens, however, returned to Antwerp and Velázquez made the journey without him.[21]

His stay in Antwerp was brief, and he soon travelled on to London where he remained until April 1630. An important work from this period is theAllegory of Peace and War(1629; National Gallery, London).[22] It illustrates the artist’s strong concern for peace, and was given to Charles I as a gift.

While Rubens’ international reputation with collectors and nobility abroad continued to grow during this decade, he and his workshop also continued to paint monumental paintings for local patrons in Antwerp. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1625–6) for the Cathedral of Antwerp is one prominent example.