Bust of ‘Seneca’

To err is human. And Rubens was no exception in that regard. As a novice art collector, he thought he had picked up a statue of the Roman philosopher Seneca, one of his major influences, in Italy. It was only 200 years later that it turned out to be someone else.    

Plot twist: it was actually a bust of the Greek poet Hesiod that had been in Rubens' private collection for decades. This only came to light when a portrait of Seneca was discovered in 1813. So Rubens never knew. The antique marble bust was one of the first pieces in his collection. The statue may have stood in the semicircular sculpture museum adjacent to his home, until his death. 

But this is just guesswork. The inventory from 1640 refers to 'several wonderful antique heads'. For Rubens, this was much more than a head. Seneca was very popular at the time. The first-century Roman philosopher had a huge influence on the artist and his learned circle of friends.   

Seneca was one of the figureheads of Stoicism, the philosophical movement from Antiquity. The talented orator believed that wisdom, steadfastness, self-control and a calm mind were the essential moral qualities to cope with the vagaries of fate and life.  

This philosophy was extremely appealing to a humanist like Rubens. For him, Greco-Roman Antiquity was the cultural high point in history and an inexhaustible source of inspiration. He even incorporated the philosophy - a way of life - into the architecture of the portico of his house. The artists of Antiquity were his absolute idols. Imagine how delighted he must have been with his purchase during his trip through Italy.

Rubens depicted the bust in several of his works. For example, you can see it in the background of the Four Philosophers, a work in which Rubens depicts himself together with his brother Philip, Jan van de Wouwer and the Neo-Stoic philosopher Justus Lipsius. He subsequently also made a portrait of the dying Seneca, commissioned by his close childhood friend Balthasar Moretus. This famous Antwerp-based printer also based his convictions on the principles of Seneca's Stoic philosophy.  

The fact that Rubens had this statue in his collection is not as strange as it might seem. From the 16th century on, buying art was no longer the preserve of the leaders of the state and the church. Wealthy citizens could also suddenly afford art and culture. Especially in the trading and port city of Antwerp. For the 'lovers of painting', it was an expression of their status and social ambitions.  

Spice merchant Cornelis van der Geest, among others, had an impressive collection. But no-one could match Rubens. Besides antique art and more modern sculptures, he owned works by several Antwerp-born contemporaries and great Italian painters including Titian, Raphael and Tintoretto.