Peter Paul Rubens, 'The Apotheosis of the Duke of Buckingham', before 1625
About the work
Overview
In this exuberant picture, Rubens seems to suggest that apotheosis – a person being elevated to divine status – is not a wholly majestic and dignified affair, as it is presented in many other contemporary paintings. Here, it seems that any great man taken to heaven and granted immortality by the gods has quite a journey ahead of him. George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, dressed in a seventeenth-century version of Roman armour, is hauled up through the sky in a swirl of moving figures. Minerva, goddess of wisdom and war, and Mercury, messenger of the gods, lead him. His eyes are turned up towards his goal high above: the Temple of Virtue.
This is a preparatory oil sketch for a painting commissioned for the ceiling of the Duke’s residence in London. It outlived him by around 400 years, but both ceiling and portrait were destroyed by fire in 1949 – only this spectacular picture survives.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Minerva and Mercury conduct the Duke of Buckingham to the Temple of Virtue
- Artist
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Artist dates
- 1577 - 1640
- Date made
- before 1625
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 64 × 63.7 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1843
- Inventory number
- NG187
- Location
- Room 18
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century English Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2011Rubens and BritainTate Britain21 November 2011 - 6 May 2012
Bibliography
-
1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.