Treasured Rubens shine a light on the drama of holy scripture

National Post, 30 December 2019

One of the most cherished pieces in the Art Gallery of Ontario's collection is The Massacre of the Innocents, part of a special exhibition until January 5th.

TORONTO — In the Christian calendar, that most natural of joys at Christmas — the birth of a baby — gives way quickly to the most terrible of all crimes, the massacre of little children. It’s the story, as related in the Gospel of St. Matthew, of King Herod who, upon discovering from the Magi that there is a “newborn king,” seeks to eliminate this future threat. Not knowing who the favoured child is, but only the place and approximate time of the birth, the king gives the ruthless and lethal order: All the baby boys two years old and under in Bethlehem are to be killed. Their early martyrdom is called the “massacre of the innocents” and is marked in the Christian liturgy just days after Christmas (Dec. 28).

One of the most treasured pieces in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is Peter Paul Rubens’ The Massacre of the Innocents. It forms one of the anchors of a special exhibition, Early Rubens, which continues at the AGO until Jan. 5. For readers who may be in Toronto, it would be a fitting visit during these days of the Christmas season.

Rubens, like all artists of his era, painted a great number of biblical scenes. Partly that was because that was whence the commissions came and partly because biblical scenes — like the massacre of the innocents — provide unrivalled dramatic material which is already well known.

The AGO exhibition focuses on the period after Rubens returned from Italy to Antwerp in 1608. A break in the religious wars between Protestants and Catholics provided the necessary tranquillity in which great painting was possible — and the resources to support it were available. Rubens lived the drama of the time. His father was a Calvinist, but after his death, Rubens’ mother provided for him a Jesuit education. The mother would return to the Catholic faith and the young Rubens would convert.

Rubens gained prominence as part of the Catholic Reformation, or Counter-Reformation, in which there were an enormous number of commissions to decorate churches in the light of recent controversies. For example, Rubens did two enormous paintings for Antwerp’s Jesuit church. The twin altarpieces featured The Miracles of St. Ignatius Loyola and The Miracles of St. Francis Xavier, two of the most important figures of the 16th-century Counter-Reformation. The pieces were intended to promote the canonization of both the Jesuit founders.

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