Flemish Baroque Era Painter, 1577-1640
Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 ?C May 30, 1640) was a prolific seventeenth-century Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. He is well-known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.
In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp which produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically-educated humanist scholar, art collector, and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, king of Spain, and Charles I, king of England.
Rubens was a prolific artist. His commissioned works were mostly religious subjects, "history" paintings, which included mythological subjects, and hunt scenes. He painted portraits, especially of friends, and self-portraits, and in later life painted several landscapes. Rubens designed tapestries and prints, as well as his own house. He also oversaw the ephemeral decorations of the Joyous Entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635.
His drawings are mostly extremely forceful but not detailed; he also made great use of oil sketches as preparatory studies. He was one of the last major artists to make consistent use of wooden panels as a support medium, even for very large works, but he used canvas as well, especially when the work needed to be sent a long distance. For altarpieces he sometimes painted on slate to reduce reflection problems.
His fondness of painting full-figured women gave rise to the terms 'Rubensian' or 'Rubenesque' for plus-sized women. The term 'Rubensiaans' is also commonly used in Dutch to denote such women.
1634
Oil on canvas (Transferred from Panel) 41 x 28 1/2''(104 x 72.5 cm)
The Hermitage Leningrad
1634
Oil on canvas (Transferred from Panel) 41 x 28 1/2''(104 x 72.5 cm)
The Hermitage Leningrad
Height Width
INS/CM Quality
X
The Fall of Phaethon (mk27)
The Fall of Phaethon (mk27)
Painting ID:: 24377
1636
Oil on panel 11 1/16 x 10 13/16''(28.1 x 27.5 cm)
Musees royaux des beaux-arts,Brussels Bequest of Comtesse de Valencia de Don Juan,Paris,1919
1636
Oil on panel 11 1/16 x 10 13/16''(28.1 x 27.5 cm)
Musees royaux des beaux-arts,Brussels Bequest of Comtesse de Valencia de Don Juan,Paris,1919
Height Width
INS/CM Quality
X
Arachne Punished by Minerva (mk27)
Arachne Punished by Minerva (mk27)
Painting ID:: 24378
1636
Oil on panel 10 1/2 x 15''(26.7 x 38.1 cm)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,Richmond The Williams Fund,1958
1636
Oil on panel 10 1/2 x 15''(26.7 x 38.1 cm)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,Richmond The Williams Fund,1958
Height Width
INS/CM Quality
X
The Judgment of Paris (mk27)
The Judgment of Paris (mk27)
Painting ID:: 24379
c 1635-1638
Oil on panel 57 x 76 1/4''(144.8 x 193.7 cm)
The National Gallery,London
c 1635-1638
Oil on panel 57 x 76 1/4''(144.8 x 193.7 cm)
The National Gallery,London
Flemish Baroque Era Painter, 1577-1640
Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 ?C May 30, 1640) was a prolific seventeenth-century Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. He is well-known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.
In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp which produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically-educated humanist scholar, art collector, and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV, king of Spain, and Charles I, king of England.
Rubens was a prolific artist. His commissioned works were mostly religious subjects, "history" paintings, which included mythological subjects, and hunt scenes. He painted portraits, especially of friends, and self-portraits, and in later life painted several landscapes. Rubens designed tapestries and prints, as well as his own house. He also oversaw the ephemeral decorations of the Joyous Entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635.
His drawings are mostly extremely forceful but not detailed; he also made great use of oil sketches as preparatory studies. He was one of the last major artists to make consistent use of wooden panels as a support medium, even for very large works, but he used canvas as well, especially when the work needed to be sent a long distance. For altarpieces he sometimes painted on slate to reduce reflection problems.
His fondness of painting full-figured women gave rise to the terms 'Rubensian' or 'Rubenesque' for plus-sized women. The term 'Rubensiaans' is also commonly used in Dutch to denote such women.