Abstracts Philosophy, Religion, and Theology

Allegorical truth-telling via the feminine Baroque : Rubens' material reality : reframing Het pelsken

by Maria Lydia. Brendel

Rubens' material reality culminates in the tableau which he named Het Pelsken (Flemish for 'The little Fur,' known also as La Pelisse). Of his vast oeuvre it is the most frequently cited work, described by one spectator as an "oil painting of a subject quite unusual...a beautiful woman naked beneath her dark fur." 1 Among art historians the tableau has been the subject of debate as to its 'meaning,' especially since the life-size image does not include narrative paraphernalia that would allow mythological interpretations. But as one scholar wrote, "most are relieved that the work was never meant to be sold."2 This dissertation's trajectory is different. It points to Rubens' late style tableaux, of which Het Pelsken is one, as items painted in an exquisite technique effecting (bodily) presence, and conceived as commodities destined for circulation. Thus the works are heavily invested by producer(s) and buyer(s). Painted in a sophisticated allegorical language that simultaneously defies easy (narrative) access and yet keeps viewers continuously spellbound, Het Pelsken is being reframed together with some of Rubens' other paintings to establish a dialogue with today's audience. This study analyzes the allegorical paradigm by way of Walter Benjamin's dialectics in order to locate levels of truth – which are of relevance to current viewers – and also probes the forces that generate such an overt and repeated display of the feminine body. In so doing, the study also spotlights neo-allegorists, who in their' more recent art practice reconnect with Rubens and disconnect with some compositional and technical strategies of the Baroque master's paintings. These artists include contemporaries Robert Rauschenberg, Peter Dressler and Jean-Luc Godard. 1Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, please see Chapter One for more of his commentary. 2Julius Held's research and response is also taken up in Chapter One.