Peter Paul Rubens epitomized the "gentleman" artist archetype. Productive, professional, and moving with ease amongst both artistic and political circles, he exemplified what it meant to be a proper courtly painter of the 17th century, elevating his own life to the same standards of leisure and excellence afforded his patrons. He famously fused a mastery of Flemish realism with the traditions of the Italian Renaissance to produce a powerful and exuberant style that epitomized the immensely popular Baroque movement, promoted by the Counter Reformation in efforts to re-establish the grandeur of the Catholic Church.
This style emphasized movement, color, drama, and sensuality, and reinvigorated painting with a new lust for life after a relatively conservative period for art. Rubens' signature portrayal of the female form was coined "Rubenesque," a term that remains widely recognized today to describe voluptuous nudes. In this life-sized painting, Francisco de Sandoval y Rojas, the first minister of Spain, is shown as chief of the Spanish armies riding a white steed.
He wears half armor and carries a ruler's staff. The proud Duke, adorned with the scallop of the Knights of Saint James around his neck, and his storybook-like horse are posed in the foreground looking directly at the viewer while the cavalry rides in battle in the far background. In Rubens' earlier works, the forms were certainly robust but here each position emphasizes the powerful anatomy of the horse or rider, illustrating his knowledge of classical sculptures and their anatomical correctness.
Great precision was used to depict the delicateness of the Duke's collar, intricate gleaming armor, jewelry, bejeweled garments, and spurred boots as well as the grandeur of the horse's wavy mane, bridle, intense eyes, and glossy coat.
These signature Baroque elements would later make his work immortal and also included the compositional use of diagonals, muscularity especially in the horse, foreshortening, and the use of strong lights against darks to bring a stately drama to the scene. Rubens' composition, which reflects his study of Titian's Portrait of Carlos V in Muhlberg , created a model for equestrian portraits of the future, especially influencing Van Dyke. As stated by Samuel Edwards in his biography, Peter Raul Rubens , the Duke of Lerma was said to be an art expert and was so impressed that " This equestrian figure, done with great verve and dramatic boldness, was confident and spirited and is generally regarded as the first of Rubens' greatest paintings.
