Museum Plantin-Moretus

Seneca lived in Rome in the first century CE and was an advisor of Emperor Nero. When the latter suspected that Seneca was conspiring against him, he ordered him to commit suicide. A Stoic and a philosopher, Seneca advocated in favour of consistency and equanimity. He applied these principles right up to the very end, consoling his family and friends in the run-up to his death. Rubens portrays the philosopher shortly before his death. For Balthasar I Moretus, Justus Lipsius and many humanists of that era, Seneca was a beacon of inspiration from antiquity. The museum archives inform us that Balthasar I Moretus commissioned a series of portraits from his childhood friend Peter Paul Rubens in 1613, including this one of Seneca. Moretus and many other humanists considered Seneca’s philosophical works and plays tremendously important as they believed that their own ideas and principles were articulated in Seneca's Stoic philosophy. Of all the portraits by Rubens in the Plantin House, this truly is a masterpiece. The portrait of Seneca can be found in the Lipsius Room, room 11.

In 1605, Jan I Moretus published the first edition of the collected works of the Roman philosopher Seneca, the life's work of the humanist Justus Lipsius, who was also a family friend. Only the best quality illustrations and design were deemed good enough for luxurious editions like this masterpiece. For the 1615 edition, Balthasar I Moretus decided to commission illustrations from Rubens. In his preface, Balthasar I provided additional information about the new illustrations. Rubens created The Portrait of Seneca after a marble bust that he had brought back from Rome, and which was part of his magnificent art collection. For the illustration of The Death of Seneca, Rubens drew inspiration from the Dying Seneca in the collection of Cardinal Borghese in Rome.
You can find this beautiful book in Room 3, the room with the family portraits. The book on display is the 1632 edition. The bust that served as a model for this portrait can also be seen in Room 11, in the painting The Four Philosophers, an anonymous copy after Rubens. Rubens placed the bust in the top right corner. 

In 2019, the Museum Plantin-Moretus acquired an oil sketch on canvas by an anonymous painter. The work was later attributed to 17th-century Antwerp artist Theodoor Boeyermans. The iconography refers to the motto of the Plantin-Moretus printing and publishing house, i.e., Labore (Hercules pulling the press on the right) and Constantia (seated at his feet compass in hand). This is a glorification of the Officina Plantiniana, the home of the Plantin-Moretus family. The painter used an allegory, a popular painting genre in the 16th and 17th centuries, in which Greek or Roman gods embody abstract concepts. Perhaps this design by Boeyermans emphasises the role of the Moretuses in the history of the publishing-printing business. This beautiful work of art can be found in room 10, the office of Christopher Plantijn.