Virtual Art Tour: Rubens's London masterpiece

Let's take a closer look at Rubens's masterpiece.

The king points towards two women who represent Peace embracing Plenty, who carries the fruits of peace in her horn of plenty.

Minerva, goddess of Wisdom strikes down the god of war, Mars, with her shield and thunderbolts. Above flying beings exchange the King’s worldly crown for a victor’s laurel wreath.

Two brown areas can be seen on the architectural frame to the paintings. These are recent conservation trials to discover how the wooden ceiling was originally finished as a frame for the ceiling’s canvases, just after they were installed in 1636.

Instead of the modern white-and-gold decoration we know this was once painted a walnut wood colour. The darker, narrow patch is the original finish as it was restored in the early 1800s. The lighter brown below is a temporary sample, which is a reconstruction of this decoration.

In the four corners of the ceiling are oval mythological battles, which reinforce the message that James was a powerful but also a just ruler. In each personification a kingly virtue tramples down one representing a vice, which a good king must reject. 

This female figure, modestly dressed in a blue robe and headcloth, represents the virtue of Temperance. At the time the ceiling was painted temperance meant voluntary self-restraint from all vices. 

She treads on the naked, sprawling and disorderly body of Intemperance or Vice. In reality James I was indiscrete when it came to some of his worldly pleasures. Temperance holds a horse’s reins, bit and bridle in her hands, used to exert control.

Intemperance has a snarling grey dog which represents discord.

The ancient god of the sun and also the arts, Apollo, represents the generosity of kings. In a pose which echoes the King’s nearby, he is painted with light radiating from his head, as he triumphs over a semi-naked woman, who represents Avarice or Greed.

Apollo holds a cornucopia -  a horn of plenty - from which pour golden coins and the crown, sceptre and orb. James I was renowned for his personal generosity.

In contrast, Avarice clutches a tightly closed purse in her hand.

The ancient Greek and Roman hero Hercules  - the personification of physical heroism -  raises his club to destroy a female figure at his feet. 

The female figure has snakes instead of hair like the infamous gorgon, Medusa and represents the evil of envy or discord. James I brought peace with Scotland and end to the discord that had divided the island of Britain.

In the struggle Discord’s snake bites Hercules’ leg. Its strange rodent-like face suggests the artist - probably one of Rubens’s assistants – had not studied a live snake.

The goddess Minerva reappears as a counterpart to Hercules’ strength, representing the King’s wisdom. She is shown spearing Ignorance in the form of an old naked woman, who fights back.  

Minerva’s symbol is an owl, shown here bringing her a victor’s laurel wreath.  

The head of Ignorance is hidden by the painting’s frame, because of an unfortunate confusion between English and Flemish units of measurement which led to the paintings being slightly too large! In Rubens’s sketch design he intended her to have the ears of an ass.

Either side of James I’s apotheosis are two great 12-metre-long scenes celebrating the fruits of his peaceful reign. A procession of cherubs lead tamed wild animals and drag a huge garland of fruit. 

On the opposite side of the ceiling another chariot - loaded with grapes for wine - is pulled cooperatively by a lion and bear. 

These and other wild animals from Africa and Asia here remind us that Rubens was painting during the time of the beginnings of colonial exploitation by the European countries where he worked.