VIOLENCE IN THE AIR: PAINTING FOR KING PHILIP IV'S HUNTING LODGE

Between 1636 and 1638 Rubens designed over sixty paintings of mythological subjects for the Torre de la Parada, the Royal Hunting Lodge outside of Madrid. The artist seems to have been given free rein in choosing the subjects, most of which he drew from the Metamorphoses by the ancient Roman poet, Ovid. In this lecture Margaret D. Carroll, Professor of Art at Wellesley College, argues that Rubens conceived of a number of these paintings as pairs---like the Rape of Hippodamia and the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis in the present exhibition---that served to provoke dialectical reflection on such themes as passion and restraint, order and chaos, chance and reason, and violence and tranquility.

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