Emulation and Competition

  ‘Correcting’ and ‘perfecting’ both classical sculptures and modern artworks in his studies, Rubens clearly did not slavishly made copies of these works; rather, he critically engaged with them.

  The Belvedere Torso serves as an illustrative example of Rubens’ emulation of antiquities and his desire to ‘perfect’ them. The Belvedere Torso was already highly celebrated during Rubens’ time. However, Rubens did not uncritically copy the sculpted fragment and slavishly replicate its every aspect, particularly its materiality, simply out of respect. Rather, guided by his own understanding of how artists should engage with sculptures, Rubens transformed the ancient sculpture, as in previous exhibits, into something almost living and breathing.

  A revealing example of Rubens’ critical engagement and active competition with Renaissance works of art is his reinterpretation of Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari. Rubens encountered an anonymous copy after Leonardo’s mural in Italy around 1600-2. In line with his usual artistic practices, Rubens expanded and retouched the drawing according to his own understanding of Leonardo’s original. In his reworking of The The Battle of Anghiari, Rubens further accentuated the mural’s dynamism. Ultimately, Rubens ingeniously incorporated Leonardo’s composition into a different context, as manifested in his Lion Hunt in the National Gallery. In other words, in order to rival Leonardo, Rubens responded with his own version of 'The Battle of Anghiari.'

  In studying these ancient and modern artworks, Rubens endeavoured to emulate and compete with their creators who were, in many ways, Rubens’ sources of inspiration. Learning reverentially from both the ancients and the moderns, Rubens ultimately strove to rival and surpass them.