This continues the "Rubens: The Glorious Antwerp Workshop and the Italian Origins" exhibition at Bunkamura the Museum in Shibuya, Tokyo (organized by The Mainichi Newspapers and others). Last time (April 2) I could not write about "Achilles Slaying Hector"= photo upper =. The single combat is a highlight of the Trojan War. This oil sketch is considered one of the finest masterpieces depicting the very moment Achilles's sword pierces Hector.
Around 1630–35 Rubens produced numerous sketches for an eight-part "Achilles Series" tapestry (a woven interior decoration), among other projects. Usually he showed the concept in a small, rough oil sketch; workshop assistants enlarged and carefully colored a modello (model), from which a cartoon (full-size preparatory drawing on thick paper) the same size as the tapestry was made. In this work, however, major changes were made from the first sketch, and the quality stands out above other modelli — so most of it is thought to have been painted by Rubens himself.
Staring at this painting, don't you feel something odd? Right — both Achilles and Hector are left-handed. For a moment I wondered whether in antiquity the left hand held the sword and the right the shield... But Brad Pitt and company in the film "Troy" are right-handed = photo lower. I don't quite understand how tapestries are made, but I suppose they reverse left and right like prints. Even for a sketch, painting everything mirrored must feel wrong — I found myself thinking useless thoughts.
Open daily through the 21st. Same-day tickets: adults ¥1,500, high school and university students ¥1,000, elementary and junior high students ¥700.