Peter Paul Rubens The Origin of the Milky Way Print

Written in the Stars: An Artist at the Height of His Powers ✨

According to Greco-Roman mythology, Zeus (Jupiter) wanted his mortal-born son Heracles (Hercules) to receive the gift of immortality, so he placed the infant at the breast of his sleeping wife, Hera (Juno), queen of the gods. Waking with a start, Hera pulled away, and her milk sprayed across the heavens, scattering into the stars we now know as the Milky Way. It's a myth so vivid it practically demands to be painted, and Rubens rose to the occasion with characteristic flourish and wit.

In the composition, Hera reclines on a bank of clouds beside her golden chariot, the infant Heracles reaching up towards her, while a watchful Zeus (his eagle and lightning bolts a nod to his identity) looks on from the shadows in the background. Hera's chariot is drawn by peacocks, her sacred bird and constant companion throughout classical mythology.

Rubens painted this piece during the late 1630s, towards the end of a career that had already established him as the most celebrated painter in Northern Europe. It formed part of a major commission from King Philip IV of Spain to decorate the Torre de la Parada, a royal hunting lodge just outside Madrid, for which Rubens and his workshop produced a staggering series of mythological scenes drawn from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Companion works from the same commission include Hercules Fighting the Nemean Lion and Perseus Freeing Andromeda, both similarly rich with the drama and movement that define Rubens' output.

A charming detail for anyone who loves a bit of art history gossip: Hera's face is widely believed to be modelled on Hélène Fourment, Rubens' young second wife, who appears again and again throughout his later work as his muse. It's a lovely reminder that even the grandest mythological scenes were often deeply personal.

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