Rubens and Antiquarianism. New Thoughts on the Two Versions of The Massacre of the Innocents

Apart from being an exceptionally gifted artist, Rubens was also an intellectual who engaged in the study of antiquity at the highest level and who had a profound knowledge of architecture and architectural theory. As can be demonstrated by such magnificent works as The Massacre of the Innocents, of which two versions exist, Rubens often used architecture as an appropriate setting for the action depicted. In both paintings he based the architecture not just on first-hand observation, but also on specialist book publications. One such particularly interesting antiquarian publication, hitherto largely ignored by Rubens scholars, is the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae by Antonio Lafreri. In a catalogue of his print shop, Lafreri describes his customers as virtuosi, a concept related to the ideas of the Accademia della Virtù in Rome and to the efforts made by Renaissance artists to recover Roman splendour in art and architecture.