Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens is reputed to have said, “Crayer, nobody will surpass you,” to Gaspar De Crayer (1584-1669), whose portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares on horseback was installed November 1 in the tower stairwell of Bapst Library. Crayer was a painter to European royalty in the Netherlands, Austria and Spain. While the works of his contemporaries Rubens and van Dyke have gained higher recognition, de Crayer’s paintings, noted for their “clear and fresh coloring,” grace the world’s art museums and numerous country chapels in Flanders and Brabant, and now Boston College.
History has judged the artist more generously than his portrait’s subject, King Philip IV’s trusted “valido” (right-hand man) Don Gaspar de Guzman y Pimentel del conde-duque Olivares—with the King’s indulgence his title was “Count-Duke of Olivares.” From 1621 to 1643 Olivares directed what proved to be a disastrous foreign policy of indecisive wars and missed opportunities. After Portugal and Catalonia rebelled, Olivares fell from favor and was exiled.
The nine and one-half foot square oil painting on canvas, a gift from the collection of Daniel Sargent, arrived in “excellent condition” on November 1 and, according to plan, was immediately installed in Bapst. “It was too large to hang in the Museum and it didn’t fit through the store room door.” said Diana Larsen the McMullen Museum’s exhibitions and collection manager/designer. Larsen had selected a wall that would afford appropriate “breathing space” to the dramatic portrait, which was elevated to its new home by a hydraulic lift before being secured to the stairwell wall by the Fine Arts Enterprises team of Scott Ryan, Toru Nakanishi, and John Bailey (on ladders, left to right) as Diana Larsen (foreground) looked on.