Landstigningen i Marseille - Marie de Médicis för med sig kapital, kultur och moderskap till Henri IV och det franska hovet - En målning av Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Abstract

This essay examines a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, now in the Louvre in Paris named Le Débarquement de la reine à Marseille, le 3 novembre 1600 (1623-25). It is one of a series of twentyfour paintings celebrating the life and achievements of Marie de Médicis, queen of France from 1600 to 1642. My goal is to dissect the different layers of meaning in it by using a method conceived by the art historian Erwin Panofsky as described in his book Studies in Iconology (1939). The Baroque period is a time of celebration of the catholic faith. Paintings observe decorum and representations of all sorts portray society’s different strata in a formalized manner. So does Rubens, as can be notified in this painting. I show that the order of the faith is applied – God above everything, then follows the King and Queen all the way downwards. Rubens is extremely skilled in using the renaissance gods of antiquity in his paintings. There is an abundance of symbols and allusions in Rubens’ work. There is a parallelism between heaven and earth. I discuss the presence of a Maltese Knight in the picture. It is also to be observed that a dynamic diagonal creates motion and perspective as in so many paintings by Rubens. My initial question concerning why Marie de Médicis commissioned these paintings is answered by political and state government reasons. Since no women could become rulers, she wanted to legitimize her presence in the government of France.