Peter Paul Rubens, Arrival (or Disembarkation) of Marie de Medici at Marseilles

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Dr. Steven Zucker: [0:04] We’re in Louvre, and we’re looking at the monumental cycle by Peter Paul Rubens of Marie de Medici. There are 24 canvases that were painted by Rubens over a four-year period with the help of his workshop. Now, according to the contract, he had to paint all the figures, but his assistants could certainly paint in much of the rest.

[0:24] This is a major commission by one of the most powerful women in Europe at this time, if not the most powerful woman. Her father was the Duke of Tuscany, and her husband was Henry IV, king of France.

[0:35] This cycle is a commemoration of the major events of her life. Although I have to come out and say it is absurd in its grandeur. It is completely over the top.

[0:47] This is a woman who had some significant events in her life, but certainly was extremely wealthy and extremely powerful. Nevertheless, Rubens clearly had to struggle and bring in every mythological stage prop that he could in order to complete a cycle that was we can only say [is] dedicated to her ego.

[1:06] In reality, she had an interesting and problematic life. There were quite a number of scandals, and not least of which was when her son — who would be Louis XIII — he was too young to take the throne and so she was in control of France as regent, but then when he finally came to age, she continued to reign. She wouldn’t let him ascend to the throne.

[1:27] When he was finally old enough and had the authority to be able to say, “No, it’s my turn,” he actually banished her from France and he wouldn’t allow her to come back for years.

Dr. Beth Harris: [1:35] You get the sense of why, because she was obviously very ambitious, very powerful, and it might have been hard to rule in her presence.

Dr. Zucker: [1:45] In her shadow.

Dr. Harris: [1:46] Yeah.

Dr. Zucker: [1:46] Let’s take a look at the ninth painting in the series of 24. It is when she is coming to France from Italy. it’s called, “The [Disembarkation] at Marseilles.” To get off a ship is not usually seen as a particularly triumphant moment, but Rubens is able to make this seem as if it itself is a triumphant moment.

Dr. Harris: [2:09] Right. She’s the queen, Victory above her with trumpets, announcing her arrival.

Dr. Zucker: [2:14] Not just one, but two trumpets.

Dr. Harris: [2:17] This is the beginning of her fulfillment of her destiny as queen of France.

Dr. Zucker: [2:23] We see France personified by a figure that seems to be preparing to kneel before her, wearing a blue cape of gold fleur-de-lis.

Dr. Harris: [2:31] Which is the symbol of the royal family of France.

Dr. Zucker: [2:34] Behind her is a knight of Malta that looks on, this fabulous ship just heavily wrought. This sky in the most Baroque fashion is just swirling and full of energy, but that’s nothing compared with what goes on below the gangplank.

Dr. Harris: [2:49] That’s right. We have three Nereids or sea nymphs below her, [who] along with the gods of the sea writhe and turn.

Dr. Zucker: [2:58] Almost as if they are they the sea themselves. It’s as if their bodies are waves. There is just tremendous energy and real beauty. I mean, look at the colors and the understanding of the torsion of the body.

Dr. Harris: [3:10] The drama of their pose contrasts with the stateliness and the grandeur of Marie de Medici above.

Dr. Zucker: [3:18] You’ll notice that they are actually assisting by holding the ship fast to the land so that she can walk easily.

Dr. Harris: [3:24] They enable. The pagan gods and goddesses and figures of victory are all there in the service Marie de Medici’s destiny as queen. It’s strange. She’s a little bit set back compared to the sea nymphs, who really occupy more than a third of the canvas.

Dr. Zucker: [3:41] Okay, so I think we’ve made the point that it’s completely over the top, but let’s get really close and take a look at the paint.

Dr. Harris: [3:47] Okay.

[3:49] The painting is hung in such a way that it starts about four feet off the floor, so that we can only really look up at the sea gods and the Nereids. In Rubens’ characteristic handling of paint there’s a tremendous sense of motion and energy.

[4:02] I’m really struck by the beard and the gray hair of the sea god in the foreground. If you look directly under him, you can see what look like raw strokes of paint. There’s a kind of energy and a kind of facility that Rubens has, and then look at the coloration of the Nereids. They are full of pinks and yellows and greens and blues.

Dr. Harris: [4:23] And look at all the foreshortening that’s going on. There’s a post that one of the Nereids is holding on to and tying a rope around. It’s moving into our space. That sea god that you talked about a moment ago reaches his hand back into space. Everything in the bottom of this canvas is in motion.

Dr. Zucker: [4:41] I’m particularly taken by the way in which their eyes are absolutely alive with specks of white paint, which become this beautiful reflective surface. You also see that in the pearls in the hair of the women, and then you see it in the drips of water that come off their body.

[4:55] Now, these 24 canvases were, of course, not originally arrayed in the Louvre. They were in the Palace of Luxembourg Gardens, which was in fact Marie de Medici’s own palace, and that was built to remind her of Florence.

Dr. Harris: [5:07] It’s really fun to go from one to the other and read the story of these great moments of her life.

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