The Dionysian Flesh of Rubens’s Landscapes. An Ecocritical Perspective
Project Lead: PD Dr. Dr. Jesús Muñoz Morcillo
Contact: jesus.munozmorcillo∂kit.edu

Jesús Muñoz Morcillo has been awarded the Michael Ann Holly Fellowship at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, for the spring term (January–June 2026). Named in honor of the Starr Director Emerita of the Research and Academic Program at The Clark, the Holly Fellowship is typically awarded to a project that engages a senior humanities scholar in an exploration of the visual from a critical or historiographic perspective. More information is available here -->

During his research stay, Muñoz Morcillo explores Rubens’s landscapes from an ecocritical point of view. Many scholars view Rubens’s late landscapes as a personal pursuit influenced by Stoic concepts of nature. However, the connections between Dionysian motifs, Epicurean ideas, and Rubens’s interest in antiquities reveal a complex materialistic and environmental awareness. These connections challenge traditional notions about early modern ideas of nature, particularly the idea that culture is morally superior to nature.

The project delves into unexplored aspects of Rubens’s work, mainly focusing on how the artist integrated aesthetics, mythology, ancient philosophy, and scientific observation into his landscape paintings. The connections between Dionysian-materialistic traditions and Rubens’s landscapes challenge established early-modern beliefs in a natural tendency to harmony and endless abundance in the world. This leads to a critical revision and enhancement of Rubens’s pictorial dialog with ancient sources and artifacts, significantly contributing to a better understanding of how the artist embodied art and nature as a philosophical, material, and aesthetic ‘entanglement.’