A fictive display of the busts is found in his Sense of Sight, a painting on which he collaborated with Jan Brueghel the Elder ( fig 1). Rubens purchased the entirety of Carleton’s sculpture collection that year, and listed among the contents of the shipment to the painter were 18 marble portraits of emperors, including “ testa di Giulio Cesare.” 3 Rubens displayed this collection in a special gallery he constructed at his home in Antwerp. The face’s crisp modeling and the deep folds in the cloak, paired with the bust-length cropping and oval format, suggest that Rubens based this portrait on a classical bust of Caesar, perhaps the marble Rubens acquired in 1618 from the English diplomat Sir Dudley Carleton (1573–1632). Rubens modeled Caesar’s face with a smooth, flowing brush, but executed his cloak and laurel crown with a swifter, sketchier stroke which, through the contrast, helped to capture the qualities of Caesar’s living flesh. His bright red cloak swags across his chest, revealing only a glimpse of his silver cuirass, a symbol of his illustrious military career. His laureate head is fixed and proud, befitting his status as one of the most famous men of all antiquity. Seen in three-quarter profile, the Roman general and statesman gazes to the right. Both in subject matter and execution, this passion is fully manifest in The Leiden Collection’s bust-length portrait of Julius Caesar. 1 Rubens’s admiration for and study of the ancient world were, indeed, so extensive that, after meeting him in 1622, the antiquarian Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580–1637), a man who would develop a deep and lasting friendship with the painter, commented that “in matters of antiquity possesses the most universal and remarkable knowledge I have ever seen.” 2 Rubens’s great love for antiquity emerges throughout his artistic career in the quotations of ancient sculpture that routinely appear in his compositions, as well as in the themes he chose to depict. He became a passionate collector of all things antique, amassing an impressive collection of books, coins, medals, gems, cameos, architectural artifacts, portrait busts and sculptures.
GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR IS PROFESSIONAL
Its stories and figures, philosophy and literature, arts and culture, which espoused strength, heroism and constancy, captivated Rubens and had a profound impact on both his personal and professional life. Few Old Master artists admired antiquity as much as did Peter Paul Rubens.
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