D A V I D F R E E D B E R G
A Source for Rubens's Modello of the Assumption and
Coronation of the Virgin: a Case Study in the
Response to Images*
O N E of the standard art-historical exercises is the search for
the pictorial sources of individual works of art. The purpose
of this article is to suggest that this exercise need not con-
stitute an end in itself, as it usually does, but that it can
yield valuable information about the status of an image in a
given social context and about the response it evokes.
Rubens's modello of The Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin
in Leningrad1 (Fig.2) raises a number of iconographic
problems; these in turn are largely resolved by the dis-
covery of an important pictorial source for the work. That
source and its relation to the work by Rubens may be used
as an illustration of some of the ways in which it is possible to
determine the associations which the seventeenth-century
beholder made when looking at works of art - even when
they were not actually recorded by the beholder himself.
While it can never be possible to recover the full range of
such associations - because many would have been too
personal and idiosyncratic - the art historian may regard
it as his province to reveal at least some.
The Leningrad modello has been shown beyond reasonable
doubt to have been one of the two projects which Rubens
presented to the Cathedral Chapter on nnnd April 161I for
the High Altar of Antwerp Cathedral.2 I t is also likely that
the painting of The Assumption of the Virgin in Vienna3
(Fig.g), which reproduces the bottom half of the Leningrad
composition, and which comes from the Lady Chapel of the
Jesuit Church in Antwerp, was originally intended for the
High Altar of the Cathedral.4
* I am indebted to Michael Hirst for a number of pertinent observations on
several of the issues raised here, and to Elizabeth McGrath for a critical read-
ing of a late draft of the text. The Central Research Fund of the University of
London made a grant towards the costs of research. The same source as the one
discussed here was noted by T. L. GLEN:Rubens and the Counter Reformation.
Studies in His Religious Paintings between 1609 and 1620, New York [1977;
originally presented as the author's thesis, Princeton University, 19751, p.151,
which appeared after this article was written. But the purpose of the present
discussion is not simply to identify a source for Rubens's composition; it is to
examine some of the implications of this kind of relationship.
Oil on panel transferred to canvas, 106 by 78 cm.; Leningrad, Hermitage,
Inv. No. I 703. M. VARSHAVSKAYA: Rubens Paintings in the Hermitage Museum,
Leningrad [1g75], pp.63-68, No.3 (in Russian); M. ROOSES: L'Oeuvre de P . P .
Rubens, histoire et description de ses tableaux et dessins, 11, Antwerp [1888], pp.189-
go, No.364.
Z ~ BAUDOUIN: and Altarpieces before 1620', in J. R. MARTIN,ed.:. 'Altars
Rubens before 1620,Princeton [197r], pp.64-72; and especially c. VAN DE
VELDE: 'Rubens Hemelvaart van Maria in de Kathedraal te Antwerpen',
Jaarboek Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen [1g75], pp.245-59,
with full documentation.
Oil on Panel, 458 by 297 cm.; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Inv.
No.518.
-
Well argued by BAUDOUIN, op. tit., pp.68-70, and VAN DE VELDE, op. cit.
pp.253-56. The matter will be fully discussed in my forthcoming volume in
the Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard (Vol.VI1).
Apart from its pictorial brilliance, what is striking about
the modello is its iconographic originality. As in all his later
representations of the Assumption, Rubens has here combined
the group of apostles surrounding the Madonna's tomb with
a number of female figures. While these women are not
usually shown to be present at the actual scene of the
Assumption, nor are described thus in any of the textual
sources,j their inclusion may be explained by the fact that
they were said to have been present at the funeral of the
Virgin, after having washed and shrouded her body.6 The
rolling away of the stone cover of the sepulchre (here in-
scribed MARIA) is also unusual, and so is the absence -
or relative lack of prominence - of the sarcophagus in which
she was laid to rest. But what is most unusual in the modello
is the upper half of the composition. I t is true that the angels
(and their variety) are emphasized in all the accounts and
commentaries,' and the fact that the Virgin is on Christ's
right depends on the reading from the forty-fourth psalm
in the liturgy for the Feast of the A s s u m p t i o n . ~ u t what
exactly is the scene? Is it an Assumption of the Virgin, a Corona-
tion, or both? We know that in all Rubens's later Assumptions
the Virgin ascends heavenwards towards a sculpted figure of
Christ, God, or the Trinity placed outside the ~ a i n t i n g . ~
But here she kneels at the feet of Christ. If the scene is a
Coronation, then it issurprising to find thevirgin being crowned
by Christ alone - for ever since the beginning of the fifteenth
century, the standard Netherlandish Coronation was effected
These are usefully gathered together in J. FOURNEE: 'Himmelfahrt Mariens',
Lexikon der Christlichen Ikonographie, I1 [I 9701, ~01s. 2 76-77.
As, for example, in the Golden Legend. The most easily available modern
edition is the French one published by Garnier-Flammarion: J. DE VORAGINE:
La Ligende Doric, transl. J.-B. M. ROZE, Paris [1967]. For the three holy women
see p.89; and E. STAEDEL: Ikonographie der HimmeEfahrt Mariens, Strasbourg [1g35],
pp.200-03.
Golden Legend, ed. cit., pp.90, 94, 101 (Cherubim and Seraphim); cf. also
notes 36 and 38 below.
'Propter ueritatm, et mansuetudinem, et iustitiam, et deducet te mirabiliter dextera tua'.
ps. 44 (45): 4.
Cf. ROOSES, op. cit., 11, No.356, pp.168-69 (Vienna); No.358, ,pp.170-72
(Diisseldorf) ;No.359, pp. I 73-80 (Antwerp) ; the circumstantial evldence that
this also applies to the paintings in Brussels ( K l . d. K [1921], p.120), Augsburg
(Ibid., p.300) and Liechtenstein (Ibid., p.352) is considerable. At this point it
should be added that the adoption of the lower half of the Leningrad modello
and the rejection of the upper half for the painting first intended for the High
Altar (i.e. the picture in Vienna) may have been due to the unusual nature of
the iconography discussed here, but it may also have been as a result of a
decision by the Cathedral Chapter to have a scubted figure or group crowning
the Virgin, as in all the later works listed above.
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E A S S U M P T I O N A N D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
by the whole Trinity.lo What, then, is the particular incono-
graphic moment that Rubens has chosen to depict, and on
what could he have based his representation ? Suchquestions
may be regarded as splitting hairs about the meaning of a
scene which is, after all, not very difficult to interpret.
Rubens presumably knew Ludovico Carracci's altar-piece
of 1601 in Corpus Domini in Bologna, which also shows the
reception of the Virgin into heaven accompanied by music-
making angels, as well as several other elements used by
Rubens in his later assumption^.^^ But a specific answer is
provided by the penultimate plate (Fig.6) in Jerome
Nadal's Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia, of which the
illustrated section is entitled Evangelicae Historiae Imagines.12
Hieronymus Wierix's engraving (after Bernardo Passeri13),
provides not only the source of Rubens's composition, but
also the key to the precise theme it represents. As the
engraving by Wierix occurs in the sequence of four plates
(Nos.150-53) devoted to the various stages in the Death,
Burial, Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin, it also
clarifies the position of this particular moment in the
sequence.14 It is the third in the series, and is entitled
Suscitatur Virgo Muter a Filio, while it is only the following
plate which combines the scenes of the actual Assumption
and Coronation (Fig.5). The textual discussion of this plate
(as well as the caption on the plate itself) refers to the event
10 Cf. F. BAUDOUIN: 'De Kroning van Maria door de Heilige Drieeenheid in de
15de eeuwse schilderkunst der Nederlanden', Bulletin, Mushes Royaux des Beaux-
Arts de Belgique, VIII [1g5g], pp.179-230, with both literary and pictorial
examples. The same applies to Rubens's paintings of the Coronation itself in
Brussels and formerly in Berlin, Kl. d. K . [1921], pp.270 and 341 respectively.
1 1 For the painting by Carracci, see H. BODMER: Lodouico Carracci, Burg-bei-
Magdeburg [1g3g], P1.46; cf. E. STAEDEL: op. cit., pp.181-84 and w. PROHASKA,
in [Exhibition Catalogue], Peter Paul Rubem 1577-1640, Ausstellung zur goo.
Wiederkehr seines Geburtstaps, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna [1g77],
pp.71-72 for a brief discussion of further aspects of the iconographic originality
and significance of Rubens's treatment of this subject.
l2 These plates were first published separately in 1593, but the editio princeps of
the work as a whole was HIERONYMUS NATALIS:Adnotationes et meditationes in
Evangelia quae in sacrosancto missae sacriJcio toto anno leguntur, cum evangeliorum
concordantia historiae integritati suficienti. Accessit & Index historiam ipsam Evangeli-
cam in ordinem temporis Vitae Christi distribuens, M . Nutius, Antwerp [I 5951, Fol. ;but
a later edition, published by the Plantin press in 1607, will be referred to here -
not only because it is chronologically closer to the work by Rubens, but also
because it is a revised and corrected version (Editio ultima, in qua Sacer Textus ad
emendationem Bibliorum Szxti V et Clementis VZZI restitutus) with an additional
preface to be discussed here. For the various editions (and on Nadal himself),
see the basic work by M. NICOLAU: Jerdnimo Nadal, S.I. (1507-1580)~sus obrasy
doctrinas espirituales, Madrid [ I 9491, pp. 1 14-3 I , where information about the
genesis and posthumous publication of the book may also be found. See now,
for a recent assessment of its significance, T.BUSER: 'Jerome Nadal and Early
Jesuit Art in Rome', The Art Bulletin, LVIII [1g76], pp.424-25, with still
further bibliographical material.
l3 The size of each plate is 230 by 145 mm. Almost all the plates in book were by
Wierix after drawings by Bernardo Passeri, 126 of which are at Windsor Castle
(L. VAN PUYVELDE: The Flemish Drawings at Windsor, London [1g42], No.196.
For the participation of Marten de Vos in this project, see L. VAN PUYVELDE:
'Bernardo Passeri, Marten de Vos and Hieronymus Wierix', in Scritti di storia
dell'arte in onore di Lionello Venturi, 11, Rome [1g56], pp,5g-64; but see also
ALFONSO RODRIGUEZG. DE CEBALLOS: 'Las "Imiigenes de la Historia Evangtlica"
del P. Jer6nimo Nadal en el marco del jesuitism0 y la contrariforma', T r a z a y
Baza [19741, 84-85.
l4 A not altogether dissimilar division into the different stages of scenes usually
conflated may be found in the plates devoted to the Entsy into Jerusalem (P1.85-
87), the Carrying of the Cross (P1.124-26, and even the Three Maries at the
Sepulchre (P1.136-37). All of these may naturally be used to determine the
precise iconographic moment of other representations of these subjects, as in
the case of the subject painted by Rubens under discussion here.
as the reception of the Virgin into heaven by her Son.15
I do not want to suggest that Rubens himself wished
to distinguish consciously between the various stages in the
sequence of events leading up to the Coronation of the Virgin
in the way that Nadal did, nor that he intended his painting
to be given the same title as Hieronymus Wierix's print. I t
is likely that he did not, and he may simply have used the
print because it seemed a pictorial invention which suited
the iconographic terms of his commission. But there can be
no doubt of Rubens's indebtedness to it, for the puzzling top
half of his composition at any rate (despite some differences,
the bottom half comes closer to traditional forms). Not only
is the Virgin placed on a lower level on Christ's right (as
required by the text cited above) in almost identical poses
and the same relation to each other, but the arrangement of
clouds and angels is strikingly similar. On the lower bank of
clouds are the younger putto-like angels (represented by
heads only in the print), while the older ones are arranged
on clouds which extend diagonally to the topmost corners
of the print, exactly as in the work by Rubens. Admittedly,
they do not play musical instruments in the engraving, but
their music-making activity is insisted upon a number of
times by both the annotations and the explanatory text.16
I t should perhaps be noted that Wierix's print presents the
Virgin's sepulchre as securely closed (in contrast to Rubens,
who shows the rolling away of the stone), and she stands on
the crescent.17 But for the rest the similarities are very close.18
In itself the relationship between Rubens's modello and
the Wierix print is not an especially significant discovery;
but the immediate context of the print has wide-ranging
implications, especially in terms of the issues raised at the
beginning of this discussion.
Nadal's book, written at the instigation of St Ignatius
himself,19 may at first sight seem to be only one of the many
aids to meditation which were published in the wake of the
Spiritual Exer~ises.~~ (as Buser has recentlyBut Thomas
l5 NATALIS, p.586: Excipit illam Filius Deus laetitia ineffabili, & immensa gratula-
tione (more briefly on the plate as Excipit eam Christus gratulatione summa).
l6 See below, p.435. These angels are repeated - almost as if this modello were a
preliminary study - in the panels of the Music-making Angels in Liechtenstein
( K l . d. K . [1g21], p.66.)
l 7 A reference to the Virgin as the Apocalyptic Woman, 'Mulier amicta sole. et
luna sub pedibus eius et in capite eius corona stellarum duodecim' (Apoc. I 2 : I ) .
l8 Although the holy women -whose presence is explicable on the iconographic
grounds referred to in note 6 above - are absent in the engraving, it should be
noted that they are present in the two preceding scenes of the Death and Burial,
(Pl. I 50--51). In the light of their presence there, Rubens may have felt there
was no reason to omit them at the very following event - apart from the
aesthetic grounds he may have had for their inclusion.
lB The opening sentence of the first preface (unpaginated) to the book makes
this clear: 'Dixerat aliquando, Beatissime Pater, Hieronymo Natali, uni ex suis
alumnis, Parens nostrae Societatis Ignatius, operae pretium facturum eum, qui ad
perpetuam atque paratam Religiosis eiusdem Societatis scholaribus meditandi, orandique
materiam atque segetem, Evangelia Quadragesima tota, Dominicisque per annum diebus
inter sacriJcandum recitari comueta, methodo quam brevissima certos ad locos, seu
capita meditantium utitlitati accomodata redigeret; neque id solum, sed etiam appositis
imaginibus & Adnotationibus illustraret'. A short introductory work on the rela-
tionship between Nadal and St Ignatius is J. ~ U R E D AI BLANES: Sant Zgnasi i
Sferonimo Nadal, Barcelona [1967], but fuller details will be found in the book by
NICOLAU cited in note 12 above.
"NICOLAU, op. cit., pp.166-70, as well as the same author's 'Un autor des-
conocido en la historia de la meditaci6n: Jer6nimo Nadal', Revista espaiiola de
Teologia, I1 [1g42], pp.101-59; for some of Nadal's own early views on medi-
tation, see his twentieth Coimbran sermon, published by M. NICOLAU, ed.:
Pla'ticas Espirituales del P. Jer6nimo Nadal, S.Z., en Coimbra (r56r), GranadMgq51
(Biblioteca Teologica Granadina, Series I, NO.^), pp. 195-201.
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E A S S U M P T I O N A N D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
stressed21) the significance of this popular work lay in the
emphasis placed on the illustrations and on their r61e in the
meditative process. These illustrations, of which there are
153 grouped together at the end of the text, were each pro-
vided with a sequence of letters (usually between four and
six) placed close to the chief incidents or elements in the
composition. The captions below each print in turn provided
a short explanation of these letters. But the real importance
for the reader of this system of annotation only becomes
apparent when one consults the text. This is divided into
chapters (arranged according to the gospel readings of the
entire year) bearing the same titles as the illustrations.
Each chapter (conceived as a meditatio) contains, in the
first place, a short adnotatiuncula corresponding to the caption
beneath the relevant print. There then follows a much longer
adnotatio which, although it is still arranged according to the
letters on the print, contains an expanded meditation on
each of the elements therein, as well as on the print as a
whole.
How, then, was the book intended to be used? What was
the r61e assigned to the illustrations? I t is worth asking
these questions, not only because this system of annotation
was adopted, whether in a modified form or not, in a whole
series of some of the most popular devotional works in the
Netherlandsz2 but also because it provides an insight into
an important aspect of the function of images in the late
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Fortunately, an
almost complete answer to these questions may be found in
the two prefaces (or the foreword and the preface) to the
text. The first, to Clement VIII and signed by Jacobus
Ximenes (Diego JimCnez), makes it clear that the work was
originally intended for members and novices of the Jesuit
order, with the illustrations to be used as an aid to medita-
t i ~ n . ~ ~What is significant, however, is the concern displayed
for the quality of the illustrations : deliberate care was taken
that they should not be engraved by an unattractive hand,
and cause boredom by the very multitude of images. They
were to be as skilled, elegant and attractive as possible, and
by the best possible artists, in order to encourage assiduous
meditation.24 To achieve the required quality, great ex-
pense was involved, and a number of difficulties encountered
in the process, but these were finally overcome.26 Here is a
clear statement of the validity and purposes of art in a re-
ligious context, in an age when - certainly from a Protestant
8' BUSER, op. cit., esp. pp.81-83. op. cit., p.425; see also CEBALLOS,
88 See below, p . 4 0 and note 76 for several examples.
See the opening sentence of the preface quoted in note rg above.
8' ' R e autem ipsarum imaginum multitude satietatem cuipiam pareret, unde suo Jinc,
spiritunli scilicet animarum fructu, opus $sum fwtraretur si in u s incideretur parum
eleganti manu; sed potius ut opficii elegantia ac pulchritude, simul cum -.ma ipsius
argumenti sanctitate atquc excelientia, operisqu picfate coniuncta, ornncs ad illud
euoluendum, adn'dunqu meditatione invitaret, necessariwn omnino fuit, ut excellmtissimi
quiqw artifices ofwi tam eximio, quod ipsius Evangelii nova ac pent spirans imago est,
adhiberenfur', NATALIS,op. cit., preface to Clement VIII, n.p. One may here be
inclined to draw a parallel with the Horatian dictum 'Omnc tulit punctum qui
miscuit utile dulci, Lctorem dehctando pariter monendo' (Ars Poetica, 11. 343-44) SO
frequently taken up in the art theory of the Cinquecento.
as ' Id quod sine magnis dzfficultatibus, maxima impensa perfici non potuit. Omnes iamn
dtfficultates supcraku, omnia impedimenta, Chrirto propitio, tuiisque auspiciis, Beatissimc
Pater, sublata m t ; opus dmique ipsum ad pietatem, €9 devotionem cxcitandam max im
accomodatum, tuo t a n a h temporc in uulgus prodit; . . .',NATALIS,op. cit., Preface to
Clement VIII, n.p.
point of view and usually from a Catholic - pictorial imagery
was consistently underplayed in favour of a renewed em-
phasis on words, or specific texts.26 What is important here,
and without which this work would be unthinkable, are the
illustrations. They are to be the very basis of the meditative
process - and one is dealing here with real images, not the
mental images of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises. I t is an aware-
ness of the fact that art preceded the calling up of mental
images.
The second preface (to the reader; present in the edition
of 1607 but absent in the earlier ones) makes it clear that the
work had now been adapted for wider circulation.27 And
because further guidelines might be needed on how to
meditate on each image (and on what, therefore, to think),
the decision was taken to include an adnotatio not only
below each picture but also an expanded one in the body of
each chapter, along with the appropriate section from the
Gospel.28 I t is precisely these adnotationes which enable the
art historian to gain some idea of how the seventeenth
century 'read' these images; and with the Life of Christ
divided into 153 different scenes one is thus provided with an
insight into how almost every religious representation within
this cycle would have affected the beholder, and what sorts
of associations were open to him.2s
In the case of the image to which Rubens was indebted in
the Leningrad modello, the print headed Suscitatur Virgo
Muter a Filio (Fig.6) is, as we have noted, the third of four
scenes dealing with the Virgin. We need not here deal with
the first two, illustrating the death and burial of the Virgin,
but it should be noted that all four scenes are dealt with in the
final and longest section of the text, subsumed under the
general heading of The Assumption of the Virgin. Fifty-three
closely printed folio pages of double column text deal with
this subject as a wh0le.3~ But to return to the adnotatio to
the particular print under d i scu~s ion .~~ Here the explanatory
caption of the print (and the identical adnotatiuncula in the
text) is expanded by the addition of words and whole
phrases, which not only enlarge the description of the various
elements in the scene, and call into play a range of purely
theological associations, but are also sensual and emotive.
Discussed in D. FREEDBERG:'The Problem of Images in Northern Europe
and its Repercussions in the Netherlands', Hafnia - Copenhagen Papers in the
History of Art [1g76], pp.25-45.
87 'Cur denique in Adnotationibus, ac frequcntius etiam in meditationibus, sermonem ad
religiosi status homines convertat, haec maxima causa est, quod eius primum consilium
non fuit ut opus hoc in vulgus ederetur; sed ut religiosis tantum Societatis nostrae,
iunioribuspraecipe scholaribus, inserviret', NATALIS,op. cit., Preface to the Reader,
n.p.
as 'Verum cum ei suggeretur, non tamen omnes uque esse idoneos ad id prestandurn, nec
fore inutile vel max im exercitatis has Meditationes legere; adductus est tandem, ut ear
Adnotationibus inseri paterefur. Fuit aufem operae pretium Adnofationum capita non
solum sub ipsis imaginibus collocare, verum etiam in Adnotationum volumine ea suis
Evangelicis lectionibus praejgere, ut qui imagines nancisci non possent (an interesting
reflection on the circulation of this work), his illas brevi compendia summaria ipsn
refcwent, simulquc meditantium commoditati & memoriae insemirent', Zbid.
But see the proviso regarding psychological associations at the conclusion of
the first paragraph here, as well as those engendered by the aesthetic aspects
of the work of art on p.441 below. I am aware that much of what follows could
be found in any number of texts, ranging from patristic sources through
medieval devotional practices to seventeenth-century meditational handbooks.
But we are here concerned specifically with an audience such as Rubens might
have had - even though they might, either consciously or unconsciously, have
been acquainted with related manifestations of the same tradition.
NATALIS,op. cit., pp.583-636.
Zbid., p.586.
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E A S S U M P T I O N A N D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
The adnotatio is deliberately calculated to help the reader
realize the emotional qualities which the image is likely (or
supposed) to arouse. This may be achieved quite simply, as
in the case of the annotation to the sepulchre of the Virgin
(marked B on the print), where the simple caption 'Christ
rouses his Mother from the closed tomb and heaps the
greatest gifts upon her body and becomes 'He
(re)joins the soul of his Mother with her body, and both body
and soul are filled with the most excellent honours and gifts;
and straightway he brings his Mother forth from the closed
tomb'.33 The piling up of synonyms (which may of course be
found in other devotional treatises, especially Jesuit ones)
and the addition of evocative words (here simply 'straight-
way') are intended to stir the emotions of the beholder and
are carried to a greater pitch in the annotations which
follow. When one looks upon the Virgin (here marked by the
letter C) one sees her 'coming forth with the most radiant
garment of immortality, adorned with glory, surrounded by
a variety of honours and gifts, golden and blessed . . .'34
'The Son welcomes his Mother [D on the print between the
two figures, indicating the act of welcoming] with ineffable
happiness and immense joy'.35 When one's eyes turn to the
hosts of angels (E),one observes that 'they and all the other
blessed spirits pay homage and do reverence to her, the
Queen and Mistress of heaven and all the earth, the Mother
of omnipotent God'.36 While Rubens has omitted the
crescent on which the Virgin stands, his portrayal of the
upper half of the scene seems to follow these descriptions
almost exactly: not only is the Virgin surrounded by an
effulgence the quality of which it is impossible to imagine
any other artist in the Netherlands attaining, it is almost as
if he has tried to evoke the same psychological relations
described by Nadal. But it is always difficult to describe the
pictorialization of emotional moment^,^' and it may be
that our perceptions of these have only been made possible
by the verbal ones in the text. In any event it is the latter
which has provided some clues as to how a seventeenth-
century beholder might have responded to the picture.
I t is worth proceeding to the next section in Nadal's
book, to the adnotatio for the last plate in the book, repre-
senting the Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin (Fig.5),
not only because it helps to explain a puzzling iconographic
feature of the lower half of Rubens's work, but also because
it casts light on all of his later Assumptions.
We may note in passing the description of the angels (B)
in this print, which is similar to the preceding description,
but still further expanded. 'An escort of angels of all ranks
encircles her, along with other sacred spirits, rejoicing and
making music. With this most brilliant celestial and divine
triumph, the Virgin Mother of God is carried up to the
3e 'Clauso sepulcro suscitat Matrem, animam eius & corpus maximis donis cumulat'.
83 'Animam Matris corpori unit, &? replet excellentissimis donis ac dotibus & anima &
corpus; ac statim e clauso sepulchro Matrem educit', NATALIS,OF. cit., p.586.
" 'Egreditur ipsa fulgentissima veste immortalitatis ac glon'a ornata, circumdata
varietate donorum, dotium, aureolarum beatarum . . .', Ibid.
35 'Extipit illam Filius Deus laetitia ineffabili, & immensa gratulatione', Ibid.
3B 'Illi obedientiam & reverentiam exhibent Angeli & alii beati spiritus omnes, Reginae
ac Dominae caeli atyue orbis universi, Matri Dei omnipotentis', Ibid.
='For an effective attempt, see the discussion of the relationship between
certain Italian devotional handbooks and paintings of the Annunciation in
M. BAXANDALL:Painting and Experience in Flfieenth Century Italy, Oxford [1g72],
pp.45-56.
heavenly empyrean'38 and so on. While this description may
seem to apply particularly to the Leningrad modello, it is no
accident that in all his Assumptions, Rubens shows at least
two different types of angels, and sometimes more (angelicae
omnium ordinum cohortes cum sanctis aliis spiritibus psallentes
ac iubilantes). Letter Cis placed adjacent to the Coronation by
the Trinity at the very top of the print. As this moment does
not appear within any of Rubens's paintings of the Assump-
tion, we need not dwell on it here; but it should be observed
that the exceptionally long accompanying adnotatio
emphasizes the relationship of the Virgin to each of the
persons of the Trinity: she kneels before the Father with
whom she conceived her eternal son, before the Son whom
she conceived, gave birth to, fed and nourished, before the
Spirit cuius operatione tY uirtute Filium Dei conceper~t.~~ Here
almost the full range of associations that the Virgin was
capable of arousing is evoked; and in order to do so, there is
no eschewing of emotive phrases like (Filius) quem conceperat,
genuerat, nut r i~era t .~~ Indeed, this sort of emotive evocation is
the hallmark of much of the work. The Virgin's exultant
elevation is emphasized, but so is her humility before her
Lord.
The letter E marks the rocky sepulchre of the Virgin, and
in the annotation may be found a partial explanation for
Rubens's usual decision to show the tomb as being open
(instead of being firmly locked, as in the preceding print):
'Once the sepulchre was opened, they did not find the body, but
only those things with which she was buried'.41 And it goes
on to arouse not only the emotions, but also the senses. That
of hearing has already been mentioned; now it is the sense of
smell. When one saw the sepulchre, one was put in mind of
the fact that the apostles were 'filled with the wonderfully
sweet fragrance coming from the tomb; so they lifted their
eyes, and bodies and souls upwards to contemplate the
resurrection, assumption and glory of the most blessed
Virgin . . .'42
While it is not necessary to suggest that Rubens followed
precisely this text, it should be borne in mind that in these
respects all his paintings of the Assumption follow it far more
closely than do the engravings by Wierix. There are, it is
true, some additional elements in the paintings, like the
miracle of the roses (an attractive part of the tradition found
in the Golden Legend43 which Rubens found difficult to resist),
'Circumvolant Angelicae omnium ordinum cohortes cum sanctis aliis spiritibus
psallentes ac iubilantes. Cum hoc triumph praeclarissimo, caelesti, divino evehitur ad
caelum empyreum Virgo Dei parens: ei Angeli, & species creatas gubemantes, ti3
caelorum motores transeunti genua curvant, & obedientiam &ferunt Reginae suae ti3
Dominae', NATALIS,0). cit., p.587.
SB 'Genibus nixa divina Virgo adorat trinum Deum t3 unum: Patrem, qui cum Filium
aeternum genuisset, eum&m ipsi &&rat generandum; Filium quem conceperat, gcnuerat,
lactaverat, nutriverat, subditum in tern's habuerat & obedientiam; Spiritum sanctum,
cuius operatione & virtute Filium Dei conceperat', Ibid.; Something like these
notions may also be found in earlier texts - compare, for example, the Golden
Legend, ed. cit., p.100.
'O As quoted in the preceding note; but cf. also note 60 below.
*' 'Aperto sepulchro corfius non invenerunt, sed ea tantummodo, cum yuibus fuit composi-
tum & seepultum', NATALIS,OF. cit., p.587; Again cf. p.439 below, and note 68.
Cf. also the Golden Legend, ed. ci t . , p.104.
'Simul fuerunt odoris suavitate admirabili repleti ex sepulchro spirantis. Ad caelum
igitur oculos & corporis & mentis aitollentes toti ,fuerunt in contemplatione resurrec-
tionis, assumptionis, & gloriae Virginis beatissimae' (continues the quotation in the
preceding note).
43 The Golden Legend, ed. cit., p.89.
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E
but these would only have served to enhance the associations
- in this case, for example, of' the sweet smell coming from
the tomb - indicated by Nadal's text.
All this is followed in the last chapter of the book by a long
final meditation D e Virginis Deiparae Laudibus. In its forty-
eight pages (pp.586-636) every aspect of the Virgin's
Assumption is dwelt upon in a series of headed paragraphs.
Every possible relationship is brought into play, every pos-
sible epithet used to describe the Virgin or the significance of
the event. Here, for example, may be found the whole range
of references to the Song of Solomon, the Old Testament
text most frequently drawn upon for its sensual prefiguration
of the Virgin and her relationship with Christ, God, and the
Trinity44 (it is worth recalling that the basis for the identifica-
tion of the Leningrad modello with the project of 161I is the
fact that Otto van Veen's rival modello represented 'Christ
calling his bride from Lebanon to be crowned', in other
words the Coronation of the Virgin - referred to, as it often
was, in terms of the Song of Songs45). Certain passages are
analysed at extraordinary length. Each word of the phrase
Ecce tu pulchra es is elaborated into an expansion of the idea
contained in the sentence as a whole, in an almost scholastic
way.46 Indeed, the Virgin's beauty forms the main burden
of many of these paragraphs, in a manner that seems to the
present-day reader to call out for pictorial realization. And
so it seemed to Nadal as well, as we may judge from the
prefaces.47 He realized, in a way that the writers of other
meditational works did not, that pictorial images could take
priority over literary ones, and could be used to stimulate the
further visualization of everything that was written out at
length in these pages. The chapter concludes by listing not
only the evangelical but also the patristic statements related
to the A s s ~ m p t i o n , ~ ~and emphasizes the inevitable parallelism
between the Virgin and the Church (the VirgolEcclesia
r e l a t i ~ n s h i p ) . ~ ~One could scarcely wish for fuller evidence
of the possible range of associations available to the beholder
of the images of the Assumption with which we have here
been concerned. 50
NATALIS,op. cit., pp.591-92.
45 Cf. VAN DE VELDE,op. tit., p.252, note I I , for the reference to the modello
'quae Dominum nostrum sponsam suam de Libano provocantem ad coronam continet' by
van Veen; for the use of the famous passage 'Veni de Libano sponsa mea, ueni de
Libano veni: coronaberis de capite Amana . . .' from Cant. 4:8, and its use in the
early texts, see A. KATZENELLENBOGEN: The Sculptural Programs of Chartres
Cathedral, Baltimore [1g5g], pp.56-60, and the valuable notes on pp.125-30
with references not only to the early sources, but also to modern texts dealing
with the subject of the Assumption of the Virgin.
46 Thus 'Ecce: rem raram admirabilem singularem; T u : nulla alia tam pulchra' and
so on, NATALIS, o f . tit., p.592. Earlier, in his twentieth Coimbran sermon of
1561, Kadal had recommended a similar way of meditating on the words
'Pater noster qui es', although naturally these offered less scope for visualisation:
cf. NICOLAU'S edition of the Platicas Espirituales cited in note 20 above, p.195.
Similar, too, are the methods of some of the Spanish mystics, as for example, in
St john of the Cross: Cantico Espiritual.
4 7 See especially the passage quoted in note rg above.
NATALIS,o f . cit., pp.602-15 (the Gospel texts) and 618-36 (the patristic
sources).
481bid., pp.616-18. Once again, the notes op.in KATZENELLENBOGEN, cit.,
pp.127-33 provide a valuable fund of sources for the parallelism between the
Virgin and The Church in the context of the Assumption and Coronation of
the Virgin.
50 Although clearly the response of different social groups may have varied
considerably; cf. below p.440.
A S S U M P T I O N A X D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
The importance of Nadal's work lies in its use of detailed
illustrations and the relationship of text to image. But there
are other meditational handbooks of the time which, even if
they are not illustrated themselves, may be used to cast light
on the response to images. I t is not only for this reason, but
also because several aspects of Rubens's paintings which do
not feature prominently in Natalis are further clarified, that
it seems worth examining one such handbook. We may turn
to one of the many works by Franciscus C ~ s t e r u s , ~ ~ the D e
Vita et Laudibus Deiparae Mariae Virginis Meditationes Quin-
quaginta,j2 in order to supplement the evidence of Nadal, as
well as to demonstrate the relationship of the latter with
other writers of the time.
The preface to this work insists on the correct method of
contemplation - which it then spells out - but in doing so
draws a parallel with the various ways of responding to
painted pictures. One could of course respond on different
levels, from the superficial to the profound. Coster puts it
briefly: 'Just as it is of great import whether we look at a
painting casually or intently, in passing or directly, atten-
tively or thinking of something else, whether we are moved
or we admire the art,j3 so it is of great importance that we
meditate on the Virgin with a definite method'.j4 How did
this 'method' operate? Although it is spelt out in rather
diffuse detail in this preface, it is systematically exemplified,
with great precision, in the body of the text. The subject of
each of the fifty meditations is carefully divided into its
constituent elements. These are further subdivided accord-
ing to the various issues they raise: every moment in the
event and every emotional juncture is considered, in a strict
system of enumeration. Each subdivision beings with the
injunction 'Consider', followed by a series of numbers. I t is
a method (whose origin may be found in medieval handbooks
such as those attributed to St Bonaventure as well as in the
practice of meditating on the Rosary) which demands that
the reader calls up before himself a specific mental image;
and this image then provides the basis for meditation. I t is
the same function which is assigned to the composicidn uiendo
el lugar of the Ignatian exercises. By these means, therefore,
the work compensates for its lack of physical images; and the
system of numbering each division (i.e. each image) and
5 1 On Costerus (recte de Coster, 1539-1619) see E. NEEFFS in Biographie
vati ion ale de Belgique, V, Brussels [1876], cols. I 1-16, with an extensive listing of
the works by him, and R. HARDEMAN: Franciscu Costerus Vlaamsche Apostel en
Volksredenaar, Alken [ ~ g y j ] .
5 2 FRANCISCUS COSTERUS: De Vita et Laudibus Deiparae Mariae Virginir Meditationes
Quinquaginta, Inglostadt, David Sartorius [ I 5881, I 2' (with an Antwerp
Approbatio of I 587).
5 3 This distinction seemed to be especially important to theological com-
mentators on art in general in the sixteenth century; in the case of an artist
such as Rubens it must have seemed crucial (although a modern observer
might argue against the existence of the distinction at all). For a similar con-
cern over the possibility that the beholder might be more aesthetically than
spiritually moved, cf. the remarks at the end of the Preface to the Reader in
Nadal's work: 'ad spiritualem fructum . . . non satis esse imagines curiose pervoluere,
aut illarum artem & pulchritudinem admirari; sed in singulis esse tibi singulos, vel
etiam plures dies insistendum, Adnotationum & Meditationum capita sensim perlegenda,
meditantium, contemplandum omnes denique orationis partes exercendas . . .' For reser-
vations about the effects of works of art by other writers in the sixteenth
century, see my article cited in note 26 above.
5"Zam vero, sicut permultum refert: quomodo externis oculis pictam tabulam intuearis,
leviter, an Jixe; oblique an directe; attente an aliud cogitans; ut movearis, an ut artem
admireris: ita ad utilitatem nostrum, multum interest, ut certa methodo hasce de Virgine
meditationes instituamw, affectusque in nobis uarios excitemus', COSTERUS, of . tit., p. 15
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E A S S U M P T I O N A N D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
each subdivision (i.e. each of the thoughts the former
arouses) corresponds to the use of letters In Nadal - except
that the use of numbers enables Coster to be still more precise
about every component of the meditational process, a fact
necessitated to some extent by the absence of illustrations.
The Meditation on the Death of the Virgin is divided into
three sections - on the events preceding her death, on her
death itself, and on her In the last section one finds
again an emphasis on the sensual aspects of the image. Here
too the musical component is emphasized, as well as the
glorious light that pervaded the scene, and the sweet-smell-
ing flowers spread by the apostles. These are sensual flowers,
but they are also metaphysical ones (for they are the flowers
of the Virgin's virtues).5s Similarly, the apostles light real
torches as they accompany her bier, but divine light
('because while she lived the Virgin was the light of the
World') 57 pervades the scene, and so on.
In the Meditation on the Assumption itself, the first point to
consider, according to Coster, is the welcome accorded by
Christ to His Mother.58 The emotional component is even
stronger than in the related passage in Nadal, but our feel-
ings are aroused by dwelling on the same things. Although
the description of Christ kissing His Mother and wiping away
her tears59 is not to be found in Nadal (nor represented in
paintings) it is followed by an insistence on recollecting
Christ's relationship with His Mother in His infancy which
we have already noted. By these kisses Christ repays those
maternal ones frequently given to Him as a child; now he
reciprocates His Mother's action in wiping away His
childish tears; He recalls how she cradled him in her arms,
gave him to suck, nurtured and fostered Him.so There is
5' Meditatio X X X V Z De Obitu B . Virginis, Zbid., pp.333-41; divided in sections
Ante Obitum (p.333), Zn Obitu (p.336), and De Sepultura Virginis (p.339).
56 'Omnes enim cecinerunt divinos hymnos . . .pores spargunt quia Mater Zesu Nazareni,
hoc est, f i r id i , virtutum firibus abundabat, suavissimumque ad omnes @les odorem
probitatis dt$undebat', Zbid., p.340.
57 'Faces accensas manibus suis Apostoli, atque discipuli praeserunt; quia Mater Dei
lux mundi dum viveret, nunc calum ipsum nova claritate illustrat, atque inferiorem hunc
mundum gloria sua and maiestate illuminat . . .',Zbid.
58 'Considera I . sanctissimam Virginis animam, simul atque & corpore exivit, a Christo
Filw benigne susceptam esse, summaque gratulatione salutat', Zbid., pp.341-42.
'quam osculatus est Dominus osculo oris sui, and abstersit omnem lachrymam ab oculis
eius' (continues the preceding quotation), Zbid., p.342.
60 'Memor enim fuit sibi infantulo ab hac sua Matre frequenter data amoris oscula,
dctersas pueriles lachrimas, segue ulnis delatum ab eius collo pependisse eius ubera suxisse,
in eius gremio quievisse, multisque oficiis adiutum, fotum, purgatum, eduatum. Tempus
igitur postulare videbatur, ut Matri vices rependeret. T u hic Matris gaudium con-
templare', Zbid., p.342. Cf. the much more restrained version of these sentiments
in NATALIS quoted in note 39 above. They may depend ultimately on the
passage in LUKE XI, 27: 'Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps
which thou hast sucked', but there is probably some influence here from the
traditional iconography of the Intercession of the Virgin, where she appeals to
Christ's mercy by revealing her breast. See the engraving by E. van Panderen
after Rubens of this subject, with the caption: '. . . Ostendit Mater Filio pectus et
ubera: . . . Quomodo poterit ibi esse ulla repulsa, ubi tot sunt charitates insignia' (c. G.
VOORHELM SCHNEEVOOGT: P. P. Rubens,Catalogue des Estampes gravies d'apr2s
Haarlem [1873], pp.92-93, No.163). The source of this text was a late tenth-
century text attributed to the Patriarch Germanos of Constantinople (P.G.,
XCVIII, co1.399), where the Virgin's breasts are compared to the chalices
of the eucharistic sacrifice, but it is actually a quotation from a twelfth-century
text by Arnaldus of Chartres (P.L., CLXXXIX, coIs.1725-26), which was
then adapted in the Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Chapter L X I X (see J . LUTZ
AND P. PERDRIZET: KritischeSpeculum Humanae Salvationis, Ausgabe, Leipzig
[1907], pp.297, 301--02). For an illuminating discussion of the motif see
E.PANOPSKY : 'Imago Pietatis, Ein Beitrag rur Typengeschichte des "Schmerzensmanns"
und der "Maria Mediatrix",' Festschrift fur M a x 3. Friedla'nder, Leipzig [1g27],
p.302.
much in a similar mood in the Spanish mystics.s1 The joy of
this reunion having been considered, the second considera-
tion is the glorious entry of the Virgin into Heaven;62 the
third consideration her welcome by the heavenly hosts
(with more references to the Song of Songs).63 We wonder at
I : the glory accorded to her by the sterile world (an allusion
to the desertum referred to in Canticles 6 and 8), 2: the
spiritual delights gained thereby, 3 : the honour she deserves
in heaven.s4
The next section of this meditation on the Assumption, De
Assumptione Corpo~is,~~ need not detain us, but it is worth
noting in the light of the long-standing discussion about the
distinctions between the Assumption of the Soul and that of
the Body.ss This is followed by a section De Corpore non
inventos7 which is of more direct relevance to the Leningrad
modello. I t deals with Thomas's doubt about the miracle (of
her passage from the closed tomb) and explains that once
the sepulchre was opened, 'nothing was found except the
funeral shroud', in which Christ too had been ~ r a p p e d . ~ e
Here is a sufficient explanation for the rolling away of the
tombstone in the Leningrad modello, and the careful repre-
sentation, in all Rubens's Assumptions, of the examination
of the shroud.
The final twelve meditations in the book are devoted to
each of the stars (the twelve stars referred to in Revelation
I 2 :I) of the Virgin's crown. Each one is taken to signify a
particular virtue, from the generic (the first star equated
with Fides, the second with Contemplatio) to the specific (the
twelfth star seen in terms of the positive aspects of matrimony,
De Bonis Matrimonii) .s9 And the symbolic significance of each
star is spelt out in great detail. Here the meditative process
and the associative method are carried to greatest length. I t
is unlikely that more than a small number of adepts pondered
images of the Assumption to the extent of dwelling carefully
on each of the stars of the Virgin's crown70 (and many
See too, for example, the annotations to Chapter IV (on Cant. 7:8, 'Thy
breasts shall be as clusters of the vine', and 8 :I '0 that thou wert as my brother,
that sucked the breasts of my mother') of the 1647 Dutch translation of ST
THERESA'SMeditaciones sobre los Cantares: Bruydegoms Vrede-Kus oft Bemerckinghen
van& lief& Godts. Ghemaeck door de H. Moeder T E R E S A van ZESUS op sommighe
veerskens van Salomons Sanghen. Met Annotation vanden Eenu. P. Hieronymus Gratianus
. . . Carmeliet; Overgheset uyt dese Spaensche in onse Nederlantsche tale door den Eerw.
P. Antonius van Zesus, Carmelit. Discals., Antwerp, Widow Jan Cnobbaert [1647],
IS', esp. pp.66-67.
8e'Considera 2. quam gloriosirs fuerit hic Virginis in coelum ingressus, t3 quam admir-
abilis triumphus', op cit., cosm~us, p.342.
63 'Considera 3, sanctissimam Matrem in ipsos coelorum aditus a Filio introdutam,
Filij sui gloriam, loci maiestatem, Angelorum ordines, omnem illius beatissimae regionis
dignitatem longe maiori gaudio admiratam fuisse, quam olim Regina Saba . . . Ztaque
admirabundi clamabant; Quae est ista quae ascendit de deserto . . . Quae est ista quae
progredietur sicut aurora consurgens', Zbid., pp.343-44 (the final two questions here
from Cant. 8:5 and 6:g respectively).
6 4 'Admirantur I. tantam gloriam de huius mundi desert0 ac sterilitate 2. tantas spiritualcs
delitias in homini 3. tantos honores Matris, quae a Deo in coelos veheretur', cosm~us ,
op. cit., p.344,
65 Zbid., pp.345-47.
"Usefully discussed in J. HECHT:
'Die friihesten Darstellungen der Himmelfaht
Mariens', Das Munster, IV [1g51], pp.1-12.
6 7 COSTERUS,op. cit., pp.348-49.
Thomas had been absent from the death and burial of the Virgin, and so
' a collegis suis Apostolis ceteris obtinuit, ut corpus Virginis exhumaretur, verum apcrto
sepulchre, nihil repertum est prater pannos sepulchrales, quales Christus Dominus a
mortuis resurgens in monument0 suo reliquerat', Zbid., pp.348-49. Cf. note 41 above.
69 COSTERUS,op. cit., pp.364-71.
70 This process is probably to be seen as a simplified spiritual version of the
ars memorandi; for the extent to which the process could be carried, see P. A.
YATES:The Art of Memory, London [ I 9661.
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E A S S U M P T I O N A N D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
representations of the Coronation do not show them), but the
fact that this was possible at all provides a remarkable
demonstration of the psychological complexity of the response
to images. Even if subliminal associations, and those which
have nothing to do with religion are omitted, the complexity
of choice open to the beholder of images in the seventeenth
century could not be more clearly attested.
Now in purely psychological terms all this is perhaps
rather obvious, and the foregoing may seem to be couched
in terms of truisms which need not be analysed. But the aim
of this article is to show that the response to images is
amenable to historical investigation as well, and to a greater
extent than is generally recognized. There is no reason
(other than the difficulty involved) why art historians should
not be concerned with the response of people who did not
actually write about such matters.71 But here we are con-
fronted again with the full weight of the problems which an
analysis of this kind must raise.
The two texts I have considered were both written by
Jesuits, and for fairly specific groups. Nadal's work was
originally written for a Jesuit a~d ience ,~2 and for novices in
particular, while Coster's book was intended for the young
(male) members of the Sodality of the Virgin at the
College in Douai.73 But we know from the prefaces to
Nadal's book that it had a wider circulation than the
audience for whom it was at first conceived, and there can be
no doubt that the same applies to the work by Coster, one
of the most popular and prolific writers of small devotional
handbooks in the later sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries. 74 NOW although both works would only have been
immediately accessible to the Latin reading public, they
provide evidence of a mode of response which was not
restricted to this audience alone. They are not, of course,
unique; indeed, their value depends on their very typicality.
They may be counted amongst the most representative
works in this period of a tradition which has its roots in much
earlier meditational methods (there are some striking
similarities, for example, with the Meditationes de Vita
Christi attributed to St B ~ n a v e n t u r e ~ ~ ) and which found its
expression in a great variety of outlets, ranging from
meditations on the rosary to the Spiritual Exercises of St
Ignatius Loyola, as well as to the meditative practices of
7 1 I hope to deal elsewhere with further aspects of this problem, and in par-
ticular with what may be deduced from the strictures of the literate on the
responses of the illiterate.
'= See note 19 above.
'Cuius Virginis patrocinium, ut alacrius imploretis, has vobis offer0 de vita laudibusque
eius L . Meditationes ut pro hebdomadarum totius anni numero, cis si placet utamini',
COSTERUS,op. cit., p.23 (concluding the 'Praefatio Sodalitati Beatae Virginis Matris
in Acquicinctensi Collegii Academiae Duacensis') .
74 Along with Ludovicus Blosius ( I 506-1 565) and Jodocus Andries ( I 588-1658),
to name only two of the most popular of all. For Coster and his writings, see the
reference in note 51 above; for the others, see note 76 below.
75 A useful modern translation is the Meditations on the Life of Christ, an illustrated
manuscript of the fourteenth century, Paris Bibliotfique Nationale, M S . Ztal. 115.
Translated by Isa Ragusa, completed from the Latin and edited by R. B. GREEN
and I. RAGUSA, Princeton [ I 96 I]. For an examination of earlier Netherlandish
representations of the Passion which takes into consideration meditational and
other literature, and which raises several of the problems outlined here (in
addition to raising further notable issues such as the whole question of the use
of Old Testament imagery in New Testament contexts), see J. MARROW:
'Circumdederunt me canes multi. Christ's Tormentors in Northern European Art
of the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance', Art Bulletin, LIX [1977]
pp. 167-8 1. On the thirteenth-century meditational handbooks, see his p. 167
and note 7.
the other religious orders.76 But the works discussed here
are two of the fullest and most complex handbooks of the
Counter Reformation in Flanders, with the clearest exposi-
tion of their subject-matter. Nadal's book is, of course, of
special relevance, as I suggested at the beginning of this
article, not only because of its use of actual images and their
relationship with paintings by Rubens, but also because of
its sophisticated method of annotating these illustrations. In
this it was followed by many other works, such as the even
more popular books by Johannes David, Antonio Sucquet
and Jodocus Andries, all of which were translated into the
vernacular, thus ensuring a still wider audience. But the
evidence they provide is much less complete, and their
illustrations of a decidedly lower quality.77 The fact that
Coster's book was written specifically for youths, rather than
restricting its applicability (as one may at first be inclined
to think) makes it all the more useful, precisely because it
has to spell out all the guidelines for minds not yet practised
or proficient in the associative process.
At this point one may encounter several objections which
an analysis of this kind is likely to raise. In the first place,
have we not here been dealing with the responses of
theologians or, at best, the responses which they would have
liked to be present in the minds of the populace? In other
words, is there not a distinction to be made between what
writers such as Nadal and Coster wanted people to think and
what associations they actually made? The answer is surely
that the distinction cannot have been so absolute that there
was no common ground between them - especially where
one is concerned with popular and thoroughly known sub-
7 6 One thinks especially of DAVID'S Veridicus Christianus, Antwerp [I 60 I], trans-
lated as Christelycken Waerseggher, de principale stucken uan t' Christen Geloof en
Leven int cort begrijpende, Met een rolle der deugtsaemheyt daer op dienende. Ende een
Schildwacht teghen de valsche waersegghers, Tooveraers, enz., Antwerp [1603], 8';
of his Paradisus Sponsi et Sponsae, in quo messis myrrhae et aromatum ex instrumentis ac
mysteriis Passionis Christi colligenda ut commoriamur. Et Pancarpium Marianum,
septemtriplici titulorum serie distinctum, ut in B . Virginis odorem curramus, et Christus
formetur in nobis, Antwerp [1607], 8'; and his Duodecim Specula, Deum aliquando
videre desidcranti concinnati, Antwerp [ I ~ I O ] , 8O (all from the Plantin press); of
SUCQUET'S Via vitae aeternae . . . iconibus illustrata per Boetium a Bolswert, Antwerp,
M . Nutius [ I ~ z o ] , 8O, translated as Den wech des Eeuwich Levens, Antwerp,
H . Aertssens [1623]; and of ANDRIES'S Necessaria ad salutem scientia, partim
necessitate medii, partim necessitate graecepti, per iconas quinquaginta duas repraesentata,
Antwerp, C . Woons [I 6541, I 2'; and his Perpetua C m , sive Passio Jesu Christi
a puncto Incatnationis ad extremum vitae; iconibus quadragemi explicata (together with
Altera perpetua crux 3esu Christi a fine vitae usque ad finem mundi in perpetuo altaris
sacrificio), Antwerp, C. Woons [1649], translated as Het ghederigh Kruys ofte
Passie Zesu Christi, Antwerp, C. Woons [1650]. Most of these received a number
of subsequent editions and translations into other languages. The works of
David and Sucquet have often been called emblem books, but the description
is perhaps not entirely accurate. The above is only a small selection of these
author's works; for their other writings, and for concise discussions of their
lives, see, in the case of David (1545-1613)~ F. A. in BibliographicSNELLAERT,
Nationale de Belgique, IV, Brussels [1873], cols.7n1-32; in the case of Sucquet
(1574-1626), A. PONCELET,Ibid., XXIV, Brussels [1g26--291, cols.237-41;
and in the case of ANDRIES (1588-1658), AUGUSTIN DE BACKER with C. SOMMER-
VOGEL and ALOIS DE BACKER,Bibliothlque des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de Jisus,
Lihge-Lyons [1869-761, I, pp.18-20, VII, p.24. Several of these writers - all
Jesuits - are referred to briefly in the work by NICOLAU cited in note 12 above,
PP. '74-9
7 7 Although David in particular merits further analysis, for the evidence that
may be found in his works of other aspects of the response to images, especially
the sorts of allegorical interpretations current amongst the less visually sophisti-
cated sections of the public.
A S O U R C E F O R R U B E N S ' S M O D E L L O O F T H E A S S U M P T I O N A N D C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N
j e c t ~ . ' ~And here a further problem may arise. Clearly, in
the case of a subject like the Assumption, where the pictorial,
literary, and liturgical tradition is of so wide-ranging a
nature it would be impossible to determine all the thoughts
which such a subject might have generated, or to isolate
them. Social groups must also be a determining factor, and
I am aware that I have omitted reflections which could have
been engendered by the purely aesthetic qualities of the
work of art concerned - an omission which may be especially
serious in the case of Rubens. But despite the particular
affiliations of the writers I have considered, they are in-
separable from the general cultural matrix, and they offer
meticulous documentation of notions which were current
but which would otherwise not have been committed to
paper (to a large extent because they were taken for granted).
On the other hand - and here one encounters a third
objection - it might be argued that few would have paused
long enough before a particular work of art to make any of
the associations suggested above; perhaps, it might be main-
tained, most people bestowed no more attention on an image
of the Assumption than they do in any small village in one of
the Catholic countries now. But we are concerned precisely
with those who did pause to look, for however long; and I
suspect that this argument is an oversimplification of the
question of the response to images, even today. Religious
images always partake of at least some totemic or super-
natural qualities. People may not consciously be aware of
the associations they make when they see an image; they
may even appear to be more concerned with other things
7 8 On the other hand, account has to be taken of the possibility of garbling even
the most common and well-established traditions. Just how easily this could
happen (in the case of those who were not widely literate but drew on only
a few texts for their learning) may be seen in the remarkable example of the
miller of the Friuli whose testimony before the Inquisition in the 1580's has
been documented by c. GINZB~RG:I1 Formaggio e i Venni, I1 Cosmo di un mugnaio
del Cinquecento, Turin [19361.
(even if they are not obviously impressed by its aesthetic
qualities). But no mind could free itself of all the associations
that any image, especially a religious one, generated. These
are complex psychological questions, but they have a his-
torical dimension which art historians have for too long over-
looked. Why are some images more venerated than others?
What is the relationship between the works of artists acknow-
ledged to be great and popular prints? Between art and
pilgrimage, art and healing objects and relics, between art
and iconoclasm - to mention only a few possibilities? But
such matters must be dealt with separately. Here I have
simply been concerned with one aspect of the status of
images in the seventeenth century and the response to them.
It would be wrong to imply that this is anything else but one
of many ways of looking at such problems.
In a field already encumbered with a bibliography larger
than most, this article is intended to be no more than a
proposal of the direction which future research might take.
Instead of the manufacture of increasing numbers of attri-
butions, or the seeking out of yet more influences (both of
which areas have been well developed), one might turn to
the more immediate context of the art of Rubens. There is
much to be discovered about the ways in which people of
all social classes and groups responded to it. Most of the
illustrated books and devotional literature of his time
remain to be explored and would repay close reading.
Examination and analysis of these, as well as of run of the
mill graphic production in the Southern Netherlands will
yield much not only about popular response to religious
subjects, but also about levels of expectation, about atti-
tudes to the greatest artists of the time, and so on. The pre-
ceding discussion has been intended merely as a sketch of
one of the ways in which the vast and still largely unexplored
field of seventeenth-century Flemish imagery may be used
to illuminate the status of those works of art which are
already and rightly well known.
G I N 0 C O R T I
The Agdollo Collection of Paintings: an inventory of 1741
T H E name of Gregorio Agdollo as an art collector in Florence
during the late I 730's appears in the printed catalogue of an
exhibition which took place in that city in 1737.~ O n that
occasion Agdollo contributed seven picture^.^
The complete list of his collection is now available to
scholar^,^ having been found among the papers of a Floren-
tine family. Agdollo's collection was to have been acquired
by this family but, as we shall see later, adverse circum-
stances prevented this.
By the time of the inventory of 24th April 1741, the
'Nota dei Quadri e Opere di Scultura esposti per la Festa di Sun Luca dell' Accademia
del Disegno nclla loro Cappella e nel Chiostro second0 del Convento dei Padn' della
SS. Nonriata di Firenze, Florence [1737].
a FABIA BORRONI SALVADORI: 'Le Esposizioni d'Arte a Firenze, 1674-1767', in
Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisches Znstitut in Florenz [1g74], I , p.136. Five out of
the seven works exhibited in 1737 are to be found in the r 741 inventory.
See Document No.11.
Agdollo collection numbered seventy-eight pictures by
thirty-seven artists, all specified except for one case. The
predominance of seventeenth and eighteenth-century artists
reveals the collector's personal taste, especially for Baroque
art. However, the Renaissance was also represented by a
few but celebrated names: Schiavone, Sarto, Veronese,
Titian. The Baroque examples range from the most famous
names, such as Reni, Rubens and Poussin, to minor or quite
unknown masters such as Monsieur Pitrt (probably French)
whose name I have been unable to find in any of the con-
temporary artistic repertories.
The number of pictures by a given artist in the collection
varies from a maximum of seven paintings to a sihgle
example.
This inventory is a model of its kind because with rare
exceptions it is accompanied by the essential information:
the subject represented, dimensions and name of the author.
No monetary estimates were made, but for the most import-