Rubens e Van Dyck a Zaventem: appunti su un aneddoto romantico

Abstract

The subject of the essay is Antoon van Dyck's stay in the small town of Zaventem, on the outskirts of Brussels, where the artist painted St Martin and the Pauper together with the image of a Madonna bearing - according to tradition - the features of the painter's lover. The anecdote of the love affair, which is said to have led to the delayed departure for Italy, is the subject of particular attention in the Romantic period, as theatrical plays, artist's novels and genre paintings show.