Peter Paul Rubens’s Investigation of the Origins of Idolatry and Iconoclasm in the Jesuit Church of Antwerp

Abstract

This paper will examine three images of iconoclasm designed by Peter Paul Rubens for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp - St Eugenia in the Temple, St John Chrysostom, and The Miracles of St Francis Xavier. Through this series of paintings, Rubens embarked on an investigation of the history and roots of idolatry that is similar to Jesuit writings by authors such as Roberto de Nobili and José de Acosta. Like Rubens, these authors demonstrate that idolatry began in the ancient world with simple mistakes, such as when kings erected statues of themselves and compelled their subjects to worship them as gods. However, the passage of time and the trickery of Satan led people to forget that these images originally depicted mere mortals. Rubens shows the viewer that true believers had always opposed such idols, just as Catholics continued to oppose idolatry both within Europe and abroad on the overseas missions. In this way, Rubens’s images of iconoclasm in the Jesuit Church of Antwerp functioned as an effective rebuttal of Protestant criticisms of Catholic image veneration.