The Kingly Image in Peter Paul Rubens’ Apotheosis of James I

Joshua S. Reid

The Kingly Image in Peter Paul Rubens’ Apotheosis of James I

Joshua S. Reid

University of Kentucky

Research output: Contribution to conference › Presentation

Abstract

This paper explores the significance of Peter Paul Rubens’s Apotheosis of James I (ca. 1630–35) for the Stuart court under Charles I. Comparing the painting with Tudor and early Stuart portraits, I will show how radically new this kingly image was for England. Deploying Baroque visual rhetoric and the mode of apotheosis, Rubens creates a dramatic allegorical tableau that perfectly articulates the Stuart’s ideology of divine kingship. The word, in the works of James I, has finally found a suitable iconographic incarnation, making the Apotheosis of James I a perfect example of the visual transfiguration of the king’s political body: the king has become King.

Original language	American English
State	Published - Mar 25 2006
Externally published	Yes
Event	Renaissance Society of America Conference - San Diego, CA Duration: Apr 6 2013 → …

Conference

Conference	Renaissance Society of America Conference
Period	4/6/13 → …

Keywords

Peter Paul Rubens

Disciplines

Italian Literature

Cite this

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title = "The Kingly Image in Peter Paul Rubens{\textquoteright} Apotheosis of James I",

abstract = " This paper explores the significance of Peter Paul Rubens{\textquoteright}s Apotheosis of James I (ca. 1630{\textendash}35) for the Stuart court under Charles I. Comparing the painting with Tudor and early Stuart portraits, I will show how radically new this kingly image was for England. Deploying Baroque visual rhetoric and the mode of apotheosis, Rubens creates a dramatic allegorical tableau that perfectly articulates the Stuart{\textquoteright}s ideology of divine kingship. The word, in the works of James I, has finally found a suitable iconographic incarnation, making the Apotheosis of James I a perfect example of the visual transfiguration of the king{\textquoteright}s political body: the king has become King.",

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AB - This paper explores the significance of Peter Paul Rubens’s Apotheosis of James I (ca. 1630–35) for the Stuart court under Charles I. Comparing the painting with Tudor and early Stuart portraits, I will show how radically new this kingly image was for England. Deploying Baroque visual rhetoric and the mode of apotheosis, Rubens creates a dramatic allegorical tableau that perfectly articulates the Stuart’s ideology of divine kingship. The word, in the works of James I, has finally found a suitable iconographic incarnation, making the Apotheosis of James I a perfect example of the visual transfiguration of the king’s political body: the king has become King.

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