ABSTRACT
The chapter explores Peter Paul Rubens' treatise De imitatione statuarum (On the imitation of statues), which was part of his now lost study book on topics such as perspective, anatomy, proportion, symmetry, architecture, human passions, and the paragone between classical literature and the visual arts. De imitatione statuarum is a brief reflection on the study of ancient sculpture, including a short passage on physical exercise and the physical constitution of the ancients and their modern counterparts. At its core, the text articulates Rubens' concept of imitatio as translating sculptural presence into painting by combining the structural precision of antique statuary with the painter's ability to evoke vitality and movement. His visual analyses of the Farnese Hercules and the Dying Seneca exemplify this principle, demonstrating how imitation of antiquity ultimately served to represent living, animated bodies.
