Abstract

This paper explores the diversity and complexity of Rubens’s humanist interests and illustrates his appropriation of learned and esoteric knowledge by focusing on the anonymous painting from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in which Rubens is shown together with his son Albert. This portrait also depicts a sculpture from Rubens’s collection, that of Hecate Triformis, who, according to ancient authors was considered to be a goddess of the underworld. By focusing on the books, manuscripts, Gnostic gems and the Hecate statue from the artist’s collections, this paper will provide a new iconographic analysis of the Hermitage painting.