The Death of Seneca by Peter Paul Rubens, 1612-1613
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This is a depiction from an account by Tacitus, in which the philosopher, anticipating his death at the hands of his former pupil Nero, took his own life by cutting his veins, speeding the process by standing in hot water.
He is accompanied by a doctor whom the philosopher had befriended and a disciple who eagerly takes down his last words, while Nero's soldiers watch in the background.
Moretus, in his foreword to the Lipsius edition of Seneca's writings, makes much of the artist's use of authentic images of the Roman philosopher, although ironically both sources were wrongly identified at the time as portraits of Seneca.
For the head Rubens used the bust in his own collection, while the body is based on the sculpture, now known as the African Fisherman, which Rubens had copied several times when he saw it in the Borghese collection in Rome. At the time the sculpture was identified as the dying Seneca and was placed in a marble bowl.
In this very deliberate adaptation of antique sculpture the artist demonstrates his belief that "the imitation ... must be judiciously applied, so that it may not in the least smell of the stone."
Especially admirable in this large panel is the transformation of the realistically gruesome representation of the philosopher's suicide into an image of nobility and strength, made the more imposing by the low viewpoint.
The grouping of the figures, closely knit both formally and psychologically in a shallow depth, offers further evidence of the picture's classical source by imitating the qualities of the sculpted bas-relief, one of the major forms of antique sculpture.
Other paintings/pictures tagged "Death of Seneca"
"The Death of Seneca" (1684-85) Musee du Louvre, Paris |
"The Death of Seneca" (1773) Musee du Petit Palais, Paris |
Popular Works by Peter Paul Rubens
The Deposition (1602) • The Four Evangelists (1614) • St George Fighting the Dragon (1606-1610) • The Incredulity of St Thomas (1613-1615) • St Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata (1635) • The Entombment (1611-1612) • The Lamentation 1 (1614) • Martyrdom of St Thomas (1639) • St Sebastian (1614) • Massacre of the Innocents (1637) • Immaculate Conception (1628) • The Road to Calvary (1634-1637) • The Stigmatization of St Francis (1616) • Last Supper (1631-1632) • The Adoration of the Magi (1624) • St James the Apostle (1612-1613)
Rubens Mythological Paintings
Prometheus Bound (1610-1611) • The Head of Medusa (1617) • The Rape of Europa (1630) • Perseus and Andromeda (1620-1621) • The Judgement of Paris (1606) • The Three Graces (1639) • Garden of Love (1638) • The Battle of the Amazons (1618) • Nature Adorning the Three Graces (1615)
Rubens Allegorical Paintings
The Consequences of War (1637-1638) • The Four Continents (1615) • Allegory on the Blessings of Peace (1629-1630) • The Union of Earth and Water (1618) • Cleopatra (1615) • The Triumph of Victory (1614)
Rubens Biblical Scenes
Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1616) • Samson and Delilah (1609-1610) • The Massacre of the Innocents (1611-1612) • Bathsheba at the Fountain (1635)
Rubens Large Projects For Royal Orders
The Triumph of Truth (1622-1625) • The Landing of Marie de Medicis at Marseilles (1623-1625) • The Fates Spinning Marie's Destiny (1622-1625) • The Meeting of Marie de Medicis and Henri IV at Lyon (1622-1625) • Marie de Medicis as Bellona (1622-1625)
Rubens Altarpieces In Antwerp Cathedral
Descent from the Cross (1611-1614) • Assumption of the Virgin 1 (1626)
Rubens Landscapes
Return of the Prodigal Son (1618)
Rubens Portraits
The Death of Seneca (1612-1613) • Isabella Brandt 1 (1626)