Follower of Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640)
Attributable to Theodoor van Thulden (Bois-Le-Duc, 1606 - 1669)
Perseus Frees Andromeda
oil on canvas, applied on panel
82 x 67 cm. - with frame 98 x 83 cm.
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The subject of the painting, derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book IV, verses 663-752), is inspired by the myth of the princess Andromeda, daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, portrayed here being freed by the Greek hero Perseus after he defeated the sea monster that held her captive.
This cruel punishment had been imposed on her by Poseidon, god of the seas, to atone for the pride of her mother Cassiopeia, who had dared to compare herself and her daughter to the Nereids in beauty. When Perseus returned home on his winged horse Pegasus after his victory over the formidable Medusa, he saw the princess chained to a rock on the coast and, overcome by her beauty, decided to save her.
The hero, dressed in shining armor and with the red mantle of the victor and a plumed helmet, is surrounded by two small cupids, one of whom is helping him to untie the chains that bind Andromeda to the rock, emphasizing the theme of love triumphing over danger.
This is a reduced version derived from the famous 'Perseus Frees Andromeda' painted by Peter Paul Rubens around 1620, now housed in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, from which the main scene on the right has been extracted.
Link: https://research.rkd.nl/nl/detail/https%3A%2F%2Fdata.rkd.nl%2Fimages%2F55274
Rubens, who often used sophisticated references to antiquity to emphasize the message of his paintings, modeled the figure of Andromeda and the putto at her side, busy untying her chains, on the statue of Venus Felix (Rome, Vatican Collections, https://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=1369), seen during his stay in Rome.
As indicated in the verses of Ovid's poem, when the flying Perseus sees Andromeda chained to the rock, her beauty is such that it initially petrifies him, mistaking her for a statue, and this might be the reason for this learned reference.
"…nisi quod levis aura capillos / moverat et trepido manabant lumina fletu, / marmoreum ratus esset opus" (vv. 672-675)
(…if a gentle breeze had not moved her hair and her eyes had not shed warm tears, he would have thought her a work of marble)
The success of Rubens' work favored its considerable dissemination and a rich series of derivations, by the workshop (Vienna at the Liechtenstein Gallery, Potsdam at the Sans-Souci Gallery, Arles Museum, Lisbon Museum).
It is our opinion that the paternity of the presented painting, finely executed, should be attributed to a Flemish artist active around the second half of the seventeenth century among the followers of Rubens, who masterfully reworked the master's masterpiece.
If we observe the characteristics of the painting, the proposed work can be compared to the hand of Theodor van Thulden (Bois-Le-Duc, 1606 - 1669), one of Peter Paul Rubens' closest collaborators and pupils, particularly known for his work as an engraver and copyist, who contributed to spreading the Flemish master's style. Among the countless works he reproduced from the master, reinterpreting them according to his own sensitivity, we can mention 'Alexander the Great with Roxana' (https://rkd.nl/images/119824), 'The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence' (https://rkd.nl/images/256558), 'Cimon and Pero' (https://rkd.nl/images/274549), or 'The Bath of Diana' (https://rkd.nl/images/342069).
Van Thulden was not a mere passive "copyist" but a fundamental interpreter of Rubens' projects, with his own style that tended towards greater classicism in his maturity, while faithfully following the dynamism and power of Rubenesque Baroque.
Visible surface restorations present.
With a gilded frame, not coeval.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
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