Peter Paul Rubens, one of the greatest masters of the 17th century and a devout Catholic, masterfully combined realism and theatricality to draw a strong emotional reaction. Here, several lions stare at us directly, suggesting that we share their space and, like Daniel, experience the same menace. By portraying them close to life size with convincing realism, Rubens heightened this immediacy. The lions’ lifelike movement and their superbly rendered fur resulted from Rubens’s direct observation and sketches he made at the royal menagerie in Brussels. The dramatic lighting and the exaggerated emotionalism of Daniel’s prayerful pose add to the veracity.
EARL A. POWELL III:
This enormous canvas depicting Daniel in the Lions’ Den is by the prolific Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, and its scale and dramatic subject matter reflect the taste of the Catholic patrons who subsidized so much of his work. The country had recently endured much warfare and upset, and there’s a real parallel between Daniel’s unflinching faith and the stoic philosophy that was very popular in Rubens’ time - the idea of braving any situation with uncomplaining fortitude.
NARRATOR:
Here we find Daniel, thrown into a den of ferocious lions for refusing to worship a pagan god. His faith, however, has served him well, for he’s survived the night, and we find him about to emerge unscathed. The stone has just been rolled away from the mouth of the cave, and morning light streams in, illuminating the thankful Daniel. His eyes are raised to heaven, and he clasps his hands in fervent prayer. Every muscle is tense, right down to the tips of his toes.
Daniel is surrounded by lions in various states of slumber and wakefulness. Beside him, one opens its mouth in a mighty yawn – or is it a roar? The muscular curling tongue sets off the great fangs gleaming in the morning light. At Daniel’s feet, one huge beast lies heavily asleep. But at the right, a lion and lioness circle each other restlessly, awake and menacing.
These lions were based in part on beautiful chalk sketches Rubens made from life in the Royal Menagerie in Brussels.
EARL A. POWELL III:
We have one of them – the lion standing on the rock – in the National Gallery’s own collection. But the lioness at the right is modeled after a small bronze, for Rubens had recently traveled to Italy, where he was captivated by Renaissance and classical sculpture.
NARRATOR:
By painting the top of the cave so it seems to continue beyond the frame, Rubens puts us right into the picture. Such dramatic devices were hallmarks of the Baroque style, stressing emotional involvement and dynamic movement. Our eyes sweep around the picture along the almost life-sized bodies of the beasts. We register the bones of less fortunate visitors to the den, but we are always brought back to Daniel himself, robustly alive, and bathed in light.
Peter Paul Rubens was an artistic genius and a larger-than-life personality – an accomplished linguist, diplomat, collector and classical scholar. He was the most sought-after painter in northern Europe in the 17th century. In fact, he was so much in demand that he often relied on his large workshop of assistants to execute major portions of his canvases, many of a grandeur and scale as sweeping as this one. Artists often used assistants at the time. But in a letter to an English lord who was interested in purchasing this picture, Rubens declared emphatically that the work was “original, entirely by my own hand.”
In 1621, a Danish physician who visited Rubens in his studio recalled:
DANISH PHYSICIAN (ACTOR):
“We found the great artist at work. While still painting he was having Tacitus read aloud to him and at the same time he was dictating a letter. When we kept silent so as not to disturb him, he himself began to talk to us while still continuing to work, to listen to the reading and dictate his letter, answering our questions and thus displaying his astonishing power.”
