Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower

• Key facts


  Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower, c. 1609–10, oil on canvas, 178 x 136.5 cm (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)
• Few paintings convey the promise of wedded bliss and marital fidelity as this double portrait, likely painted as a gift for Isabella’s father
• Description


  Seated in their “garden of love,” the painting speaks of a steadfast and tender strength between husband and wife. This is exemplified by the clasped right hands of the united couple (to which Rubens’s left index finger points) that binds them in faithfulness forever, unto and after death.
• Although Rubens sits higher than his wife on a stool, the painting nevertheless suggests, if not a marriage of equals, then a loving partnership.
• Context


  Sadly, Isabella would die around fifteen years later, at the age of 34, probably of bubonic plague, which left Rubens devastated. Their first child, Clara Serena, also died prematurely at only 12 years old. Their sons lived on into adulthood: Albert became a scholar and philologist, and Nicolaas became Lord of Rameyen. As modern viewers, awareness of the early deaths of Isabella and Clara Serena may add a melancholy air to the painting.
• Composition


  The painting’s composition draws on the woodcut for the motto In fidem uxorium (conjugal fidelity) from Andrea Alciato’s (also known as Alciati) Emblematum liber or Emblemata; the first ever emblem book, published in 1531, and printed in over 100 editions around Europe
• Iconography: honeysuckle 


  Honeysuckle is a climbing shrub which here surrounds, embraces, and protects the newlyweds. Since ancient times, honeysuckle has been the traditional symbol of good feeling, devotion, loyalty, happiness, and everlasting love. As its sweet-smelling flowers draw in bees, birds, butterflies, and, as dusk falls, moths, so lovers are drawn to amorous feelings through the plant’s entwining embrace. It is also said that honeysuckle, which grows around the entrance to a home, brings good luck and keeps away evil spirits.
• Clasped hands iconography


  In ancient Rome the right hand was sacred to Fides, the deity of fidelity. The joining or clasping of the right hands by two people, known in Latin as dextrarum iunctio, had the significations of harmony, friendship, and loyalty. The gesture was used for meeting and parting, and closing a contract between two parties.
• Figures

  Rubens is attired as a well-to-do chivalrous gentleman: a black hat with a gold-coloured clasp, a golden satin doublet (a close-fitting padded jacket worn by men between the 15th and 17th centuries), and a pair of fine yellow-orange silk hose in a cross-legged pose; his left hand rests on the jewelled hilt of his sword. While Isabella is shown wearing a high-crowned straw hat, an out-sized lace ruff, a brocaded bodice, and a wine-red taffeta silk skirt. She holds a fan in her left hand which underscores her femininity and gentility.
• The Garden of Love was a popular literary concept and symbol around the same time that the painting was created. The initial concept may have come from symbols of paradise that were present in medieval cloister gardens. Another element that may have influenced this was Roman de la Rose, as well as the role of the garden in aristocratic society. In these scenes, women depicted as objects of admiration by their suitors and the garden is full of joyfulness and music.
• The symbols found within the artwork point to self-fashioning by Rubens, because of the aristocratic portrayal and symbolism. This can be seen in the orange silk stockings, the bejewelled hat on his head, and the collar around his neckline. One detail to note is the unbuttoned collar which signifies a marriage formed through an intellectual match. In her left hand, symbolizing both her gentility and femininity, Isabella holds a fan.
• The pose of the two figures is more casual and modest compared to the noble clothing that they are wearing. Isabella is seated on the ground and recalls the Madonna of Humility, thus constructing an image as a virtuous wife. At the same time, the pose that Rubens constructs Isabella in also displays his attention to her and his overall devotion as a husband.
• "the painting speaks of a steadfast and tender strength between husband and wife" - Michael John Partington