Peter Paul Rubens

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), was the greatest Flemish painter of the 1600's. In addition to his paintings, Rubens made designs for book illustrations and tapestries, and occasionally for architecture and sculpture. He was also a scholar and a diplomat.

Rubens was born in Siegen, Germany, of Flemish parents. After his father died in 15 87, his mother returned with her children to her native city of Antwerp. There, Rubens studied under local painters. He moved to Italy in 1600 to study art. In Italy, he was employed as a painter by Vincenzo Gonzaga, duke of Mantua. In 1603, the duke sent Rubens to Spain as a member of diplomatic mission. After returning to Italy, he continued his painting and his art studies.

Rubens went back to Antwerp in 1608, to visit his sick mother, but she died before he arrived. In Antwerp , Rubens was offered several important commissions for paintings, and he decided to remain in the city. In 1609, he married Isabella Brant, a member of a prominent Antwerp family. They had three children.

Also in 1609, Rubens became court painter to the Brussels court of Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella. Rubens' fame as a painter spread. To carry out commissions, Rubens trained several young artists. His most famous assistant was the Flemish artist Sir Anthony Van Dyck.

After his wife died in 1626, Rubens accepted several diplomatic assignments involving peace negotiations between England and Spain. But when Rubens married again in 1630, he gradually withdrew from political life. His second wife was a beautiful 16-year-old girl, Helene Fourment. Rubens painted her many times. They had five children.

Rubens was influenced by the ancient Roman sculpture he studied in Italy. The most important influence on Rubens were such Italian Renaissance artists as Michelangelo, Raphael, Tintoretto, and Titian. Rubens was the most important baroque artist of northern Europe. His paintings are known for their vast scale, brilliant colours, and emotional intensity. Rubens completed an enormous number of works. In one commission during the 1620's, he painted 24 large pictures on the life of Marie de Medicis, the widow of King Henry IV of France. From 1630 to 1635, he painted nine huge canvases for the Banqueting House at Whitehall in London. Rubens' subjects include hunting scenes, Biblical episodes, stories from classical mythology, portraits and selfportraits, and landscapes.

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