A Psalm for King James: Rubens's "Peace Embracing Plenty" and the Virtues of Female Affection at Whitehall

• J. Vanessa Lyon ^[1]
  1. [1] Bennington College

     Bennington College

     Town of Bennington, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Art history: journal of the Association of Art Historians, ISSN 0141-6790, Vol. 40, Nº. 1, 2017, págs. 38-67
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Art historians have long interpreted the intimate coupling of Rubens's "Peace Embracing Plenty" (Whitehall Palace Banqueting House, London) as a representational 'paraphrase' of 'Righteousness kissing Peace' (Psalm 85). This essay proposes a more likely and apprpriate biblical source for the allegory by placing Rubens's amorous female personifications within the context of Caroline divine-right rhetoric, a quintessential sermon by William Laud, and changing approaches to allegorical representation at the English court. It argues that the scriptural meeting and kissing of virtues provided Rubens with both a notional narrative and an authoritative justification for representing female affection, even same-sex desire, in a political and morally positive light.