De Ganay manuscript

Rubens wrote down and sketched his ideas in a notebook. With his idiosyncratic notes on a wide range of topics, even complex matters such as numerical mysticism, alchemy and the Kabbalah, Rubens reveals a lot of secrets here. Besides sketches, he also wrote notes on optics, symmetry, proportion, anatomy, architecture and the human passions. It is essentially a peek into Rubens' creative brain. This manuscript is one of four preserved copies.

Regardless of the author, the de Ganay manuscript confirms that Rubens was not only an exceptional artist, but also a passionate theorist. Rubens impresses in particular with his images comparing the faces of a lion, horse and bull with antique statues of, for instance, Venus and Hercules. He delves deeper into the physical forms of men, women and children, both with schematic drawings and detail studies.

The original was owned for many years by André Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to Louis XIV. Unfortunately this unique document went up in flames in the fire at his Paris studio in 1720. Fortunately, there were four copies. Not made by Rubens himself, but by contemporaries   

The Chatsworth and Bordes manuscripts probably existed during Rubens' lifetime. The Johnson manuscript, and this de Ganay manuscript, are from a later date and are probably based on the Bordes copy. That explains the rather emphatic differences between the four versions.

All copies consist of illustrations as well as drawings and notes. But the copy that was once in the possession of the French marquis de Ganay is clearly the most meticulously produced. The handwriting is very regular, the drawings have been made with a fine pen and the page layout is remarkably balanced.  

Several additions are proof that it was only produced after Rubens' death. Examples include the drawings of men at rest and in motion. They are reminiscent of illustrations by Nicolas Poussin in a 1651 edition of a treatise on painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Eleven years after Rubens' death.  

So who made this copy with additions? It was likely someone from the artist's intimate circle. Whether or not in collaboration with a Latinist and one or more illustrators. There are also fragments in Dutch between the numerous lines of Latin text. The copy was therefore definitely produced in Flanders.

The King Baudouin Foundation purchased the valuable period document at auction in New York in 2012, and promptly gave it to the Rubenshuis for permanent preservation. Another copy is in private ownership, the Johnson manuscript is in the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and the Bordes manuscript is kept at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.