Peter Paul Rubens, 'Kings Clothar and Dagobert dispute with a Herald', 1611-12

Rubens made this oil sketch, and two others, in preparation for an altarpiece commissioned for St Bavo’s Cathedral, Ghent. The central panel shows Saint Bavo, a former Roman soldier, being received as a monk. This scene, in which King Clothar and his son King Dagobert each sit astride a horse, appears on the right panel.

The two kings, both dressed in armour and wearing gold crowns on their heads, hold their arms out to block the advances of a third figure, a herald of the Roman Emperor Mauritius. He thrusts a scroll towards the pair, which contains an edict from the Emperor forbidding his soldiers from becoming monks. In defiance of the edict, Clothar and Dagobert support Saint Bavo being received into the Church.

The rich, dark blue and silver of Dagobert’s armour emphasises the silvery colouring of his horse with its shimmering white mane. The two horses dominate the composition, and the raised hoof of the one in front creates a sense of restlessness that emphasises the tension of the situation. The distress of the dog that is trapped beneath the horse and is in danger of being trampled further reinforces this feeling. Most of the composition has been painted quite thinly, using quick, sweeping brushstrokes, but the reflection of light on the armour of the kings and their horses is intensified by Rubens’s use of impasto. Poles and flags indicate the presence of a crowd of soldiers in the background, and the attention to detail that Rubens paid to the central figures and their horses contrasts with the sketchy, loosely defined forms of the background figures who peer down at the scene from the balustrade. Rubens painted them in grisaille, a technique he also used for the background figures in the central panel.

While the sketchy quality and pale colouring indicate that this oil sketch was used as a plan for a later painting, the highly detailed and brightly coloured figures in the centre show Rubens plotting out the picture more precisely. Some pentimenti can be seen with the help of X-radiography and infrared reflectography, showing that Rubens made changes to the composition throughout the painting process. For example, the reins of the horse on the right have been altered, while the arch of the church building in the background originally had a steeper curve.