(Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
The Virgin of the Rosary with Phillip III of Spain, Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia,
oil on canvas, 67.5 x 52 cm, unframed

Provenance:
with Galerie Fiévez, Brussels, 1946;
where acquired by the family of the present owner

The present painting relates closely to a panel of the same subject formerly in the collection of the Duke of Marlborough that is mentioned in Michael Jaffé’s 1989 monograph on the artist (see M. Jaffé, Rubens, Catalogo Completo, Milan 1989, p. 265, no. 671). Both the panel and the present canvas are based on a now lost original by Peter Paul Rubens, which was destroyed by the French attack on Brussels in 1695. In that year the troops of Louis XIV bombarded the city between 13–15 August causing devastating fires and leaving permanent marks on the city. Rubens’ work was hung in the so-called Spanish Chapel of the Dominican church. This location refers to a Spanish royal congregation founded in 1594 and was most likely established in gratitude to the Spanish troops who liberated Zaltbommel from the Siege of the Beggars, also known as the Geuzen in Dutch. This miraculous event was later attributed to the intervention of the Virgin Mary.

The present painting shows the Virgin enthroned, holding the Christ Child and is encircled by six symmetrically arranged saints. The Virgin is slightly turned towards the two Domincan saints on her left and elegantly provides Saint Dominic with a Rosary. On the far left is possibly the renowned Thomas Aquinas and in front of him, distinguishable by the pilgrim’s staff he holds, is Saint James who leans over to offer a Rosary to the Spanish monarch, Philip III. To the right of the Virgin, are Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena, whilst the devout Saint stooping to kiss the Child’s foot could be Catherine of Alexandria. The central theme of the painting is the distribution of the Rosary beads. The distinctly Dominican character of this composition is evident. According to a fifteenth-century legend, Mary with the Christ Child appeared before Saint Dominic and gave him the Rosary, instructing him to teach people devotion, and promised that his apostolic efforts would be blessed with much success to combat heresy if he did. This legend immediately gave rise to numerous brotherhoods, which greatly promoted the cult of the Rosary, and later became one of the great themes of Counter-Reformation painting.