Dance of Mythological Characters and Villagers

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Dance of Mythological Characters and Villagers: Peter Paul Rubens

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Peter Paul Rubens Oil Painting - Dance of Mythological Characters and Villagers

Keywords: Dance, Mythological, Characters, Villagers

Work Overview: Dance of Mythological Characters and Villagers (The Dance of the Villagers; Dance of Italian Villagers)
Peter Paul Rubens
Alternative name: The Dance of the Villagers
Date: c.1636
Style: Baroque
Genre: genre painting
Media: oil, board
Dimensions: 106 x 73 cm
Location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

The Dance of the Villagers is a 1635 painting by Peter Paul Rubens. now in the Prado Museum in Madrid. It is closely related to The Village Fête, of a similar date and on a similar subject.

After Rubens' death, Philip IV of Spain sent his ambassador to buy paintings from the artist's estate - he bought this one for 800 florins and the king hang it in his summer dining room in the old Royal Alcázar of Madrid. It is now in the Prado Museum.

A group of peasants dance in agitated frenzy, accompanied by a flutist in a tree. The scene takes place in a landscape that recalls Italy, especially the villa in the background, whose shapes resemble those of the architect, Andrea Palladio. This work has sometimes been identified with a mythological subject, because of the bare-chested satyrs with ivy crowns and bells on their ankles, as well as the character dressed in snake skin, which may be an allusion to the god, Bacchus. Rubens made this painting in the last years of his life, after his second marriage, and it is imbued with the strongly sensuous spirit that marks his works from that period. Country scenes by Pieter Brueghel, “the Elder”, are the forerunners to this painting, but they are adapted by Ruben´s eye. The composition is very dynamic and the artist masterfully captures the sensation of circular movement, which is reinforced by the presence of the dog that moves in parallel to the peasants. This work belonged to Rubens until his death, when it was acquired by Felipe IV.

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