Sands after Rubens. Marriage [by Proxy] of Mary of Medicis

In the words of the Historic Gallery, “The Grand Duke of Tuscany espouses, by proxy, Mary de Medicis, in the name of Henry IV. The Cardinal, Aldobrandini, gives them the nuptial benediction. Near the queen, the Grand Duchess, Jane of Austria, and the Duchess of Mantua, are observable. The Duke of Bellegarde, principal equerry of France, bearer of the king’s proxy, and the Marquis de Sillery, who had been appointed to negociate this alliance, accompany the grand duke. The church of St. Mary del fiore, where this event took place, is ornamented with garlands of flowers; and decorated with the utmost magnificence. Over the altar is a group of white marble, representing the Almighty, bearing his dead son upon his knees.” After praising the “richness of colouring” anchored by the “lively red” of the “pontifical habits of the cardinal,” the commentary notes that, “among this assemblage of brilliant tones, the group of white marble would have appeared cold, if Rubens had not conceived the ingenious idea of enlightening the inferior part, by torches placed upon the altar. They communicate, to this group, tints of a ruddy hue, which imperceptibly combine with the grey tints of the marble, and give to this part of the work all the vigor of which it is susceptible” (HG 6, n. p.).

In the engraving, the “group of white marble” behind and above the action figures is much less fully rendered than in the original painting (fig. 1 above). Even so, the statuary of “the Almighty, bearing his dead son upon his knees,” provides a weirdly ominous backdrop to the foreground scene in which the young woman who had been represented only by a portrait in the previous painting is here married to her absent husband as represented by her own uncle. Millen and Wolf see the statuary as a “most disconcerting element” among many in the painting. Not only does the statuary in the painting differ in location, grouping, and physiognomy from its ostensible model (Bandinelli’s statuary of God the Father with the Dead Christ Supported by an Angel (elsewhere in the same church); the features that Rubens gives to the face of the tortured Christ have been altered to as to suggest the “predestined martyrdom of King Henry IV himself” (53, 60-62, figs. 12, 15).

A footnote in the Historic Gallery identifies St. Mary del fiore simply as “one of the churches of Florence, where the marriage was celebrated, in the month of October, 1600.” During Melville’s visit to Florence in 1857, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was the spiritual and artistic heart of the Duomo complex. Coming upon “the Duomo & Campanile . . . unexpectedly,” Melville was “amazed at their magnificence” even though he “could not enter” (as they were closed). On his return visit, he “Ascended Duomo,” admired the “noble view,” and saw an “immense foot five feet long by measurement” in the “Fresco of dome” (NN J 114, 116).