Abstract

Art historians have long interpreted the intimate coupling of Rubens's Peace Embracing Plenty, a figural group in one of the ceiling canvases of the Whitehall Palace Banqueting House in London, as a representational paraphrase of “Righteousness kissing Peace” (Ps. 85). This chapter's case study offers a more likely and appropriate biblical source for the allegory by placing Rubens's amorous female personifications within the context of Caroline divine-right rhetoric, a quintessential sermon by William Laud, and changing approaches to allegorical representation at the English court. It argues that the scriptural meeting and kissing of virtues provided Rubens with both a notional narrative and an authoritative justification for representing female affection, even same-sex desire, in a political and morally positive light.

Keywords: Rubens; gender; queer; Laud; King James; Queen Elizabeth

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.