Name: Peter Rubens
Age: 62 years old
Place of birth: Siegen, Denmark
Place of death: Antwerp, Belgium
Activity: great painter
Marital status: was married to Elena Fourman
Peter Paul Rubens - biography
Throughout his life, Peter Paul Rubens refuted the popular belief about poor artists. He was favored by kings, famous, rich, and, it seemed to him, loved. Fortunately, he did not find out that his wife and muse had a low opinion of his work.
Descendants called Rubens a craftsman, and his countless paintings - a “butcher's shop.” In Peter Paul's paintings, flesh truly reigns. The powerful bodies of men, the white plumpness of women. Even the little angels are so fat that they can hardly fly. And the space free from this bodily abundance is generously filled with brocade, satin, sparkling armor and rich furniture.
Such were the ideas about the happiness of merchant Flanders, of which Rubens was flesh and blood. This is how this region was full-blooded and flourishing, until in the 16th century Spain, under whose rule the Netherlands was, began to eradicate the Protestantism that had arisen here. In response, the northern provinces of the Netherlands rebelled, led by Prince William of Orange.
Antwerp city judge Jan Rubens, while formally serving King Philip of Spain, secretly helped Prince William. In 1568 this was revealed. Under threat of death, Jan, his wife Maria Peipelinks and four children had to flee to Germany. Three more children were born in exile, including Peter Paul, who was born in July 1577.
The beginning of his life biography was not very happy - in a foreign land, his father, a prominent and very gallant man, began an affair with the wife of the Prince of Orange, Anna. Having learned about this, Wilhelm acted humanely - he kept his wife with him, and did not execute his comrade-in-arms, but simply took away all his property and sent him and his family to his German patrimony - the town of Siegen. To feed her children, Maria grew vegetables and sold them at the market.
In 1587, Jan died of a fever, and his widow and children returned to Antwerp, where relative order had been established. True, the former prosperity of the city was a thing of the past - forgetting about blood relationships, the Dutch merchants blocked their competitors from Antwerp and Ghent from accessing the sea. The grown-up children of Jan Rubens had to forget about the trade that generations of their ancestors were engaged in and look for other professions. The daughters got married, the middle son Philip became a philosopher and lawyer, the eldest, Jan Baptist, chose a career as an artist.
By that time, Italy had ceased to reign supreme in art - the little Netherlands had almost equaled it thanks to one amazing discovery. For a long time, artists painted with tempera, the basis of which was quickly drying egg yolk. The Fleming brothers Van Eyck were the first to use linseed oil as a base for paints. Oil paints were brighter and dried more slowly, which allowed the master to work without haste. In addition, the artist could layer layers of paint one on top of the other, achieving an amazing effect of depth. European monarchs gladly commissioned paintings from Flemish masters.
At the age of 15, Peter Paul firmly told his mother that, following the example of his older brother, he would become an artist. The first teacher in the biography of Peter Paul Rubens was a distant relative of his mother, Tobias Verhacht. From him he soon moved to the workshop of Adam van Noort, and then to the most famous Amsterdam painter of that time, Otto van Ven. If the first mentor only taught the young man how to hold a brush correctly, the second instilled in him love and interest in his native Flanders with its love of life and rough rural entertainment.
The role of the third turned out to be even greater - he introduced Peter Paul to ancient culture, the knowledge of which was then required not only by an artist, but also by any educated person. He was the first to draw attention to Rubens' talent and his exceptional hard work. Venius studied in Italy and now decided to send his best student there.
For Peter Powell's trip, his mother had to borrow money from relatives who did not approve of the younger Rubens' intentions. In Flanders at that time there were more artists than bakers. In addition, his brother Jan Baptist was already studying painting in Italy, but he soon died without finding fame for himself. A different fate awaited Peter Paul.
Peter Paul Rubens arrived in Italy at the age of 23 and stayed there until he was 31. He was unusually lucky: as soon as he arrived in the country, he became the court artist of the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo Gonzaga, a generous patron of the arts. The Duke had a very unique artistic taste. He did not like modern painting and ordered Rubens mainly copies of masterpieces of antiquity and the Renaissance. And this can also be considered luck - at that time, artists in Italy came under the hood of the church, which was looking for heresy in their creations.
Michelangelo himself had to cover a number of figures in the Sistine Chapel with clothes, and the Inquisition would not stand on ceremony with a painter from the free-thinking Netherlands. Copying saved Rubens from suspicion; Moreover, at the expense of the Duke, who sent the young artist to different cities, he became acquainted with the picturesque treasures of Venice and Florence. Rome and even Madrid. At the same time, Peter Paul led an exceptionally well-behaved lifestyle. In any case, he, unlike many Flemish painters who studied in Italy, never went to prison. While his colleagues were often punished for drunken brawls.
In 1608, Rubens learned that his beloved mother was seriously ill. He hurriedly returned to Antwerp, but did not find his mother alive. Peter Paul experienced the loss so hard that he refused to return to the Duke of Gonzaga - he decided to leave painting and go to a monastery. But life decreed otherwise. Having learned about the artist's return from Italy, wealthy residents of Antwerp began vying with each other to order paintings from him. Among the customers were even Archduke Albert and his wife Isabella, whom King Philip II appointed rulers of the Netherlands.
They offered Rubens a position as a court painter and a huge salary of 15 thousand guilders a year. But for this, the artist needed to move to Brussels, where the residence of the Archduke was located. Rubens, not wanting to limit himself again to court painting, showed miracles of diplomacy in order to obtain a position, but remain in Antwerp. His talent, coupled with hard work, allowed him to easily carry out numerous orders from the Archduke and at the same time work for the magistrate of Antwerp and paint the cathedrals of nearby Ghent.
Rubens' hard work was legendary. Those who visited his studio said that the artist worked on several paintings at the same time, while willingly talking with visitors, dictating letters to his secretary and discussing household matters with his wife. He took 18-year-old Isabella Brant, the daughter of a wealthy judicial official, as his wife. Having married for convenience, Rubens treated his wife very reservedly for a long time. Isabella doted on him and for 17 years quietly surrounded her husband with comfort and care, at the same time managing to give birth and raise three children.
Although what kind of inconspicuousness is there if Isabella Brant, who willingly posed for the artist, forever entered the history of art under the name of “Rubensian woman” - plump, wide-hipped. However, all the women in Rubens’ paintings were like that. It seems that the artist deliberately exaggerated these features - in accordance with the canons of female beauty of his time. It is known that when working on portraits, he painted only faces from life, and completed the body from memory. At the same time, Rubens’ bodies turned out to be so alive and natural that rumors spread that he mixed real blood into his paints.
Rubens' style turned out to be so in demand that soon the artist could no longer cope with orders alone, and he had to recruit assistants. There was no end to those who wanted to work for the popular master: “I am besieged to such an extent by requests from all sides,” wrote Rubens, “that many young men are ready to wait for a long time with other masters so that I will accept them... I was forced to turn down more hundred candidates..."
In the luxurious mansion built according to Rubens’s own design on Antwerp’s Wapper embankment, the artist equipped a spacious workshop on the ground floor. in which dozens of students worked. They were clearly divided into categories. The younger students primed the canvases and prepared the paints, the more experienced ones painted the decor and details of the landscape, and the most talented ones were trusted by the owner to depict people.
Among Rubens' assistants were genuine painting geniuses, such as Jacob Jordane and Frans Snyders. The fact that they spent most of their lives in the shadow of Rubens suited them quite well. Rubens provided them with orders and did not skimp on payments. Only one student of the master showed obstinacy - young Anthony Van Dyck, the only one who could compete with Rubens in talent. After a stormy quarrel, he left the teacher, for which he was deprived of orders and was forced to leave for England.
Over the years, the “painting factory” on the Wapper embankment began to work so smoothly that Rubens sometimes only made a sketch of the future painting, and at the end he walked over it with the master’s hand and put his signature. Other artists of the time created, at best, a hundred canvases during their careers. Rubens' signature is on one and a half thousand paintings.
By the time Rubens was already over forty, the nickname “lord of the empire of paints” was firmly attached to him. His then lifestyle was described in his memoirs by the artist’s nephew: “He rose at four in the morning, making it a rule to begin the day by attending mass, unless he was tormented by an attack of gout; then he got to work, seating a servant next to him, who read aloud to him some good book, most often Plutarch, Titus Livy or Seneca... He worked until five o'clock in the evening, and then saddled his horse and went for a walk around the city, or found another activity that brought relief from worries.
Upon his return, several friends with whom he had dinner were usually already waiting for him. He hated gluttony and drunkenness, as well as gambling.” Nevertheless, the artist had a weakness, on which he spared no expense: he collected works of ancient art. He brought the first exhibits of his collection from Italy. In the house, he set aside a special semicircular tower for the collection, which over time was filled with hundreds of paintings and sculptures. This collection also included works by Rubens himself, which he wished to keep.
Among them is the famous “Arbor Entwined with Blooming Honeysuckle,” his self-portrait with Isabella Brant. The artist boldly rejuvenated himself, depicting a strong man with curly curls and a reddish beard - Rubens began to go bald early, which he was embarrassed about. He never took off his wide-brimmed Spanish hat in public.
Of course, most of his paintings found a place in palaces, town halls and cathedrals. But not all of them aroused unanimous delight among contemporaries. Immediately after painting “The Descent from the Cross” for the Antwerp Cathedral, ill-wishers called it blasphemous. It seems that the life-loving Rubens simply could not extract anything positive from contemplating death. The martyrdom of saints, the hellish suffering of sinners - none of this attracted him at all. But no one better than him created paintings on the themes of magnificent holidays and the deeds of monarchs.
For this reason, it was the French queen Marie de Medici who remembered him, who wished to decorate her palace with 21 allegorical paintings on the occasion of her reconciliation with her son, Louis XIII. A year spent working in Paris turned the artist against the French: “They are terrible gossips and the most evil-tongued people in the world.” Rubens was outraged that French artists whispered behind his back that the figures he depicted supposedly looked unnatural, their legs were too short and, in addition, crooked.
The only vivid impression that Rubens had from Paris was that there he met the British ambassador, the Duke of Buckingham. The Duke ordered his portrait from Rubens and, in long conversations with the artist, encouraged him to try himself in a new field - diplomacy. Rubens, who was familiar with the royalty of almost all of Europe, enthusiastically took up a new business for himself, without abandoning his painting.
At that time, Europe was seething - Protestants fought with Catholics, Holland and its allies England sought to take the southern part of the Netherlands from Spain, dragging the Spaniards into a war with France. Spain, in turn, tried to make peace with France and, together with it, oppose the British. Rubens found himself in the midst of these intrigues in 1625. With his help, the Duke of Buckingham and his confidant, the adventurer Balthazar Gerbier, began secret negotiations with Madrid. They used Rubens' patroness, the Infanta Isabella, as an intermediary. The artist was so carried away by politics that he even came from Madrid for just one day to attend the funeral of his wife Isabella Brant, who died of the plague.
For five years Rubens was - or seemed - a fairly prominent figure on the chessboard of European politics. Serving various forces, he played his game to end the war in his native Flanders. This required reconciling England with Spain, to which the lion's share of Rubens' efforts was devoted. Everything was used - secret visits, encrypted letters, purchasing secret information. Rubens had to fight with Cardinal Richelieu himself, who vowed to prevent an Anglo-Spanish rapprochement.
Traveling between London and Madrid, Rubens managed to achieve peace between the two countries in 1630. For this, the Spaniards awarded him a large sum, and the English king Charles I knighted him. But success turned out to be ephemeral: when the artist tried to take part in the Spanish-Dutch negotiations, the Spanish envoy Duke of Aarschot kicked him out, saying: “We don’t need painters who meddle in other than their own business.” Soon, Infanta Isabella died, which deprived Rubens of his main patron and the opportunity to influence politics. He never managed to stop the war that was ravaging his homeland.
Rubens, who was already over fifty, returned to Antwerp, where his young wife Elena Fourment was waiting for him. He married the 16-year-old daughter of a court upholsterer at the end of 1630. Elena bore him five children and became the muse of dozens of paintings where nudity was depicted with a revelation unprecedented at that time. She was Diana, Venus, Helen of Troy - and herself, playing with children or emerging from the bathhouse in a fur coat coquettishly draped over her naked body.
In contrast to the calm relationship with his first wife, this time the artist was seriously in love. And no wonder: Elena was considered the first beauty of Flanders, which was recognized even by the new governor of the country, Cardinal Infant Ferdinand. But you can’t fool art - in all the paintings, Elena’s eyes are cold and her facial expression is dissatisfied.
In a letter to a friend, Rubens wrote: “I took a young wife, the daughter of honest townspeople, although they tried to convince me from all sides to make a choice at court, but I was afraid of this disaster of nobility and especially arrogance... I wanted to have a wife who would not blush , seeing that I take up my brushes...” Elena, nevertheless, blushed. She, a respectable bourgeois woman, did not like that her husband painted her naked, and even boasted about these paintings to his guests.
In the last years of his life, Rubens really changed his former moderation, as if in a hurry to make up for lost time.
It was a rare day at his Steen Castle, which he acquired in 1635, without noisy feasts. The gatherings continued until nightfall, and then the guests went for a walk along the embankment, or, as one of the artist’s friends testified, “they went to a fashionable festivities called the pilgrimage of Venus. Sometimes they sang and danced until late at night, and then indulged in love in such a way that it is impossible to even talk about it.”
Rubens himself, if he did not participate in such amusements, then encouraged them in every possible way. Despite arthritis and gout attacks, he was very strong and still worked hard, refusing any help from his students. It seems. Rubens realized that on the threshold of eternity, only what is created with one’s own hands matters...
In April 1640, sudden weakness forced Peter Paul to go to bed. On May 30, he died holding the hands of his pregnant wife Elena and his eldest son from his first marriage, Albert.
After his death, Elena hastened to buy Rubens's paintings, in which she was depicted naked. Having lived ten years with the great artist, she still did not understand why fans of his work admired her. And it is not surprising - many in the Netherlands believed that Rubens “drowned the living soul of Flanders in lard.” Only a hundred years later, when Baroque, its philosophy and style had become established everywhere in a rapidly changing Europe, it became clear that Rubens' genius anticipated a new era.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).Self-portrait. 1623
Peter Paul Rubens (Dutch. Pieter Paul Rubens) June 28, 1577, Siegen - May 30, 1640, Antwerp) is a prolific Flemish painter who, like no one else, embodied the mobility, unbridled vitality and sensuality of European painting of the Baroque era. Rubens's work is an organic fusion of the traditions of Bruegelian realism with the achievements of the Venetian school. Although the fame of his large-scale works on mythological and religious themes thundered throughout Europe, Rubens was also a virtuoso master of portraits and landscapes.
“The history of art does not know a single example of such universal talent, such powerful influence, such indisputable, absolute authority, such creative triumph.”, one of his biographers wrote about Rubens.
Biography of Rubens:
Flemish painter, head of the Flemish school of Baroque painting, architect, statesman and diplomat. He directed an extensive workshop that produced numerous monumental and decorative compositions on orders from the European aristocracy. He created a large number of works with his own hands: portraits, landscapes, allegories, mythological and religious paintings, monumental altar compositions for Antwerp churches. Rubens owns numerous drawings (sketches of heads and figures, images of animals, sketches of compositions). Rubens's work had a significant influence on the development of European art in the 17th-19th centuries.
Peter Paul Rubens was born in Germany, the son of a lawyer, an emigrant from Flanders. The artist came from an old family of Antwerp citizens; his father Jan Rubens, who was the mayor of the city of Antwerp during the reign of the Duke of Alba, was included in the proscription lists for his commitment to the reformation and was forced to flee abroad.
Self-portrait with friends Mantua. Falfraf Richartz Museum, Cologne
He first settled in Cologne, where he entered into a close relationship with Anna of Saxony, the wife of William the Silent; this relationship soon turned into a love affair, which was open. Jan was sent to prison, from where he was released only after much request and insistence from his wife, Maria Peipelinks.
The place of exile was assigned to him in the small town of the Duchy of Nassau, Siegen, in which he spent 1573 - 78 with his family, and where, probably on June 28, 1577, the future great painter was born. Peter Rubens spent his childhood first in Siegen, and then in Cologne, and only in 1587, after the death of John Rubens, his family was able to return to their homeland, Antwerp.
Peter, along with his brother Philip, was sent to a Latin school, which gave the young men the basics of a humanitarian education. Rubens received his general education at the Jesuit College, after which he served as a page for Countess Laleng. At the age of 13, Peter begins to study painting. His teachers in this field were Tobias Vergagt, Adam van Noort and Otto van Ven, who worked under the influence of the Italian Renaissance and managed, especially the latter, to instill in the young artist a love for everything antique. In 1598, Rubens was accepted as a free master into the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke, and in the spring of 1600, according to the long-established custom of Dutch painters, he went to complete his artistic education in Italy, where he studied the works of Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio.
Portrait of Peter Paul Rubens 1590
At the end of 1601, the artist was offered a position at the court of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Rubens' duties included copying paintings by great masters. The artist remained in the Duke's service throughout his entire stay in Italy. On behalf of the Duke, he visited Rome and studied Italian masters there, after which, after living for some time in Mantua, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Spain.
The fame of a talented artist comes to him unexpectedly. At the request of the Duke, Rubens brings valuable gifts to the Spanish King Philip III. On the way, trouble happens: the rain hopelessly ruined several paintings performed by Pietro Facchetti, and Rubens has to paint his own in return. The paintings make an impression, and Rubens immediately receives his first order - from the first minister of the king, Duke of Lerma. The composition (in which the Duke is depicted sitting astride a horse) is a resounding success, and Rubens's fame spreads throughout the European royal courts.
During the Italian period of his activity, Rubens, apparently, did not strive for independent creativity, but only went through a serious preparatory school, copying those of the paintings that he liked the most. At this time, he performed only a small number of independent works, of which the following should be mentioned: “The Exaltation of the Cross”, “The Crown of Thorns” and “The Crucifixion” (1602; in the hospital in Grasse), “The Twelve Apostles”, “Heraclitus”. “Democritus” (1603, in the Madrid music. del Prado), “Transfiguration” (1604; in the music. Nancy), “Holy Trinity” (1604, in the Mantuan library), “Baptism” (in Antwerp), “St. Gregory" (1606, in the Grenoble Museum) and three paintings depicting the Mother of God with the saints standing before her (1608, in Chiesa Nuova, Rome).
Leda and the Swan, 1600. Stefan Mazon, New York, USA
The Deposition. 1602. Galleria Borghese, Rome
Virgin and Child C. 1604, Museum of Fine Arts, Tours
Battle with the Amazons. 1600 Potsdam (Germany), Art Gallery
In 1608, having received news of his mother’s serious illness, Rubens hastily returned to Antwerp. Hastily leaving Rome, he returned to his homeland, but no longer found his mother alive. Despite Rubens's promise to the Duke of Mantua to return to Italy, he remained in his homeland.
In 1609, he agreed to take the position of court painter under the ruler of Flanders, Isabella of Austria. In the autumn of the same year, Peter married aristocrat Isabella Brandt, daughter of John Brandt, secretary of the city court. Three children were born from this marriage.
Self-portrait of Rubens with his first wife, Isabella Brandt, 1609-1610.
Alto Pinakothek, Munich
Isabella Brandt, wife of Rubens, 1626. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Portrait of a young girl, (Portrait of the daughter of Clara Serena Rubens)
1615-16. Vadus, Lichnetstein Museum
Albert and Nicholas Rubens, children of the artist, 1626-1627.
Liechtenstein Museum, Vadus
In the early period of his work, Rubens painted ceremonial portraits in the spirit of the Dutch traditions of the 16th century. (“Self-portrait with Isabella Brandt”). In the 1610s. performs altar images in the Baroque spirit for the Antwerp Cathedral and city churches (“The Raising of the Cross”, “The Descent from the Cross”). Even earlier, in 1609, he set up an extensive workshop, into which young artists flocked in droves from everywhere. The large workshop, whose building he designed in the style of a Genoese palazzo (restored in 1937–1946), soon became a social center and landmark of Antwerp.
At this time he wrote: “The Conversion of St. Bavo” (for the Church of St. Bavo, in Ghent), “The Adoration of the Magi” (for the Church of St. John in Mecheln) and a colossal image of the “Last Judgment” (in the Munich Pinakothek). In 1612-20. the artist's mature style is emerging. During this period, he created many of his best works: mythological paintings (“Perseus and Andromeda”, “The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus”, “The Union of Earth and Water”, “Venus in front of the Mirror”, “The Battle of the Greeks with the Amazons”); hunting scenes (“The Hunt for Hippopotamus and Crocodile”); landscapes (“Carriers of Stones”).
The erection of the cross, triptych, general view. From left to right: Mary and John, Elevation of the Cross, Warriors
Descent from the Cross.1614: O.-L. Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp
Crucified Christ.1611: Koninklijk museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
Last Judgment. 1617. Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Germany
“The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus.”1618
Venus before a mirror.1615: collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein, Vaduz
Toilet of Venus, ca. 1608 Madrid, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
Hunting for a crocodile and a hippopotamus. 1615-1616, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Head of a jellyfish. 1617. Private collection
Samson and Delilah. 1609, National Gallery, London
Boy with a bird. 1616. Metropolitan Museum, Berlin, Germany
Four philosophers (from right to left: Scientist Jan Vovelius, famous Stoic philosopher Justus Lipsius,
Lipsius's student, the artist's brother Philip and Rubens himself; above them is a bust of Seneca).
1612. Palatina Gallery (Palazzo Pitti), Florence, Italy
During the same period, Rubens acted as an architect, building his own house in Antwerp, marked by Baroque splendor. By the end of the 1610s. Rubens received wide recognition and fame. The artist’s extensive workshop, in which such major painters as A. van Dyck, J. Jordaens, and F. Snyders worked, carried out numerous monumental and decorative compositions on orders from the European aristocracy. In total, three thousand paintings came out of Rubens' workshop.
In 1618, from under his brush came “The Miraculous Fishing” (in the Church of Our Lady, in Mecheln), “Lion Hunt” (in the Munich Pinakothek), in 1619 “The Last Communion of St. Francis” (in Antwerp museum), "The Battle of the Amazons" (in the Munich Pinakothek) and 34 paintings for the Antwerp Jesuit Church, destroyed in 1718 by fire, with the exception of three that are now stored in the Vienna Museum.
Lion Hunt 1616, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany
Battle of the Amazons, 1618. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
In the 1620s. Rubens creates a series of paintings commissioned by the French queen Marie de' Medici and intended to decorate the Luxembourg Palace ("The History of Marie de' Medici"), paints ceremonial aristocratic portraits ("Portrait of Marie de' Medici", "Portrait of Count T. Arendelle with his family"), and performs a number of intimate lyrical portraits (“Portrait of the Infanta Isabella’s chambermaid”), creates compositions on biblical themes (“Adoration of the Magi”). He wrote for Marie de Medici a cycle of allegorical panels on scenes from her life and made cardboards for tapestries commissioned by Louis XIII, and also began a cycle of compositions with episodes from the life of the French king Henry IV of Navarre, which remained unfinished. Brilliantly educated and fluent in several languages, Rubens was often hired by Spanish rulers to carry out diplomatic missions.
Medici Gallery, 1622-1625 Louvre, Paris
The second half of Rubens' life was spent mostly in travel, which he made as an ambassador of his sovereign. So he traveled to Paris three times, visited The Hague (1626), visited Madrid (1628) and London (1629).
After the death of his wife, in 1627-30, the artist visited Holland, France, then traveled to Madrid and London on diplomatic missions. He meets with Charles I, Duke of Buckingham, Philip IV, Cardinal Richelieu, promotes the conclusion of a peace treaty between Spain and England, for which the Spanish king granted him the title of State Councilor, and the English - nobility.
During his travels, Rubens painted portraits of royal and simply high-ranking persons: Marie de Medici, Lord Buckingham, King Philip IV and his wife Elizabeth of France. In Madrid, he painted a number of portraits of members of the royal family, executed for the banquet hall of the Uatgal Palace, in London - nine large lampshades depicting scenes from the history of King James II.
In addition, while working in Antwerp and Brussels, he created a large number of paintings with religious, mythological and genre content, among other things: “The Adoration of the Magi” (in the Antwerp Museum), “The Flight of Lot” (Louvre), “Christ and the Sinner” (in the Munich Museum). Pinakothek), "The Raising of Lazarus" (in the Berlin Museum), "Bacchanalia" (Hermitage), "Bacchus" (ibid.), "Garden of Love" (in the Madrid Museum, in the Dresden Gallery), "The Game of Gentlemen and Ladies in the Park" (in the Vienna gallery), "Carriers of Stones" (Hermitage), etc.
Lot's flight. 1622. Paris, Louvre
Garden of Love, 1632, Prado Museum, Madrid
In the 1630s. a new period of the artist’s creativity began. In 1626, Rubens's first wife, Isabella, died. After four years of widowhood, in 1630 Rubens married sixteen-year-old Helen Fourman, the daughter of a friend and distant relative of Daniel Fourman. They had five children. Rubens retreats from political affairs and devotes himself entirely to creativity. He acquires an estate with a castle (Sten) in Elevate (Brabant) and settles there with his young wife.
Portrait of Helen Fourment, the artist's second wife, 1630.
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels
Elena Fourman with children, 1636-1637. Louvre Museum, Paris
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Rubens, his wife and son.1639. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan
Rubens in his garden with Helen of Fourment. 1631: Private collection
From time to time the artist creates decorative and monumental compositions, but more often he paints small paintings, performing them with his own hands, without the help of a workshop. His main model is his young wife. Rubens captures her in biblical and mythological images (“Bathsheba”), creates more than 20 portraits of Elena (“Fur Coat”, “Portrait of Elena Furmen”). We recognize her features in The Garden of Love (1634), in The Three Graces (1638) and in The Judgment of Paris (1639).
Venus in a Fur Coat.1640: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
"The Three Graces".1639: Prado Museum, Madrid
Judgment of Paris.1639: Prado Museum, Madrid
The themes of the works of this time are varied. The last ten years of Rubens' life (1630 - 40) were as productive as the first periods of his activity.
During these years, he produced one of his best creations, the famous triptych “Our Lady presenting the sacred vestment to St. Ildefrons” (in the Vienna gallery). He continued to work in the Uatgal palace, commissioned by Brussels carpet manufacturers to create a whole series of cardboards depicting “The Life of Apelles” (in 9 scenes), “The History of Constantine” (12 scenes), and “The Triumph of the Church” (in 9 scenes).
Along with poetic landscapes (“Landscape with a Rainbow”, “Landscape with the Castle of Walls”), Rubens painted scenes of village festivities (“Kermessa”).
Autumn Landscape with a View of the Castle (Het Steen).1635, National Gallery, London
When in 1635, a year after the death of the ruler of the Netherlands, Infanta Isabella, King Philip IV appointed his brother, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo Ferdinand, to rule this country, Rubens was entrusted with organizing the artistic part of the festivities on the occasion of the ceremonial entry of the new stadtholder into Antwerp. Based on the sketches and sketches of the great artist, triumphal arches and decorations were built and painted, decorating the city streets along which the prince’s motorcade followed (these sketches are in the Munich Pinakothek and the Hermitage). In addition to these works, Rubens performed many others, for example, a series of hunting scenes for the royal palace del Prado in Madrid, the painting “The Judgment of Paris” (in the London National Gallery and in the Madrid Museum) and “Diana on the Hunt” (in the Berlin Museum), as well as a number of landscapes, including “The Arrival of Odysseus to the Phaeacians” (in the Pitti Gallery, Florence) and “The Rainbow” (in the Hermitage).
Landscape with cows, 1636. Oil on wood. Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Landscape: milkmaids and cows. 1618.Royal Collection, London
Despite his vigorous activity, Rubens found time to do other things. He corresponded with Infanta Isabella, Ambrose Spinola and Sir Dudley-Carlton, was fond of collecting carved stones, and drew illustrations for Peiresque’s essay on cameos, was present at the first experiments with a microscope carried out in Paris, was interested in book printing and produced a number of capital letters for Plantin’s printing house sheets, frames, mottos, headbands and vignettes.
Rubens's last works are “The Three Graces”, “Bacchus” and “Perseus Freeing Andromeda” (finished by Rubens’ student J. Jordaens).
Perseus liberating Andromeda 1640. Prado Museum, Madrid.
In the spring of 1640, Rubens' health deteriorated sharply (he suffered from gout), and on May 30, 1640, the artist died.
The amazing fertility of Rubens (there are over 2000 of his paintings alone) would seem downright incredible if it were not known that his numerous students helped him in his work. In most cases, Rubens made only sketches, from which others executed the paintings themselves, which he painted with his brush only at the end, before handing them over to customers.
Rubens's students and collaborators were: the famous A. van Dyck, Quellinus, Schoop, Van Hooke, Diepenbeck, Van Thulden, Wouters, Egmont, Wolfut, Gerard, Duffe, Francois, Van Mol and others.
Rubens House in Antwerp
Monument to Rubens in Antwerp
Peter Paul Rubens (Dutch. Pieter Paul Rubens; June 28, 1577, Siegen - May 30, 1640, Antwerp) is a prolific South Dutch (Flemish) painter who, like no one else, embodied the mobility, unbridled vitality and sensuality of European painting of the Baroque era. Rubens's work is an organic fusion of the traditions of Bruegelian realism with the achievements of the Venetian school. Although the fame of his large-scale works on mythological and religious themes thundered throughout Europe, Rubens was also a virtuoso master of portraits and landscapes.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Peter Paul Rubens was born in Germany in 1577, in the family of a Flemish lawyer who left his native Antwerp for religious reasons. The father dies a year after his birth, and 10 years later the family returns to Antwerp, where the mother has property and modest means of living. Rubens begins page service in the count's house and soon shows such an ardent interest in drawing that his mother has to give in to him, despite her own plans for her son's education. In the spring of 1600, the future genius sets off to meet the sun of painting, shining from Italy.
Rubens spent 8 years in Italy, painting many commissioned portraits and demonstrating his outstanding talent, bringing life, expression, and color to this genre. His manner of carefully depicting the landscape and details of the background of the portrait was also new.
Returning to Antwerp for his mother's funeral, he remains in his homeland and accepts an offer to become a court painter for Archduke Albert and Infanta Isabella.
He was young, incredibly talented, possessed of captivating charm and real masculine beauty.
His sharp mind, brilliant education and natural tact made him irresistible in any communication. In 1609, he married the daughter of the Secretary of State, Isabella Brant, out of passionate, mutual love. Their union lasted until 1626, until Isabella's untimely death, and was full of happiness and harmony. Three children were born to this marriage.
During these years, Rubens worked fruitfully and his fame grew stronger. He is rich and can write as the divine gift tells him.
Biographers and researchers of Rubens' work unanimously note his extraordinary freedom in painting. At the same time, no one could accuse him of violating the canons or insolence. His paintings give the impression of a revelation he received from the Creator himself. The power and passion of his creations still inspire awe in audiences to this day. The scale of the paintings, combined with amazing compositional skill and finely detailed details, creates the effect of immersing the soul in a work of art. All the subtleties of experience, the entire gamut of human feelings and emotions were subject to Rubens’ brush, combining with the artist’s powerful technique in his creations, most of which have been happily preserved to this day. Rubens created his own school, which was considered the best in Europe. Not only artists, but also sculptors and engravers studied with the Master. and continued his glory. 
After the death of Isabella, Rubens, who suffered greatly from the loss, even suspended his work and devoted several years to diplomacy.
In 1630, he remarried the young Elena Fourment (Fourment), a distant relative of his late wife. She gave him five children. The family lives outside the city, and Rubens paints many landscapes and rural holidays in the lap of nature. He is happy and peaceful again. His mature mastery becomes majestic and close to absolute perfection.
Later, years of continuous work begin to take their toll, Rubens is tormented by gout, and his hands refuse to obey.
The disease progresses rapidly. But even then, natural optimism and a feeling of fullness of life do not leave him.
On May 30, 1640, in the full blaze of glory and in the prime of his talent, Peter Paul Rubens left the earthly world. He was buried with unprecedented honors, and in recognition of the greatness of his services, a golden crown was carried before the coffin.
THE WORK OF RUBENS
Rubens never hesitated to imitate those of his predecessors who admired him, and especially with. The first decade of his work presents a picture of the hardworking and methodical development of the achievements of artists of the 16th century. Thanks to this approach, he mastered all genres of Renaissance painting and became the most versatile artist of his time.
Rubens' compositional solutions are distinguished by their exceptional diversity (diagonal, ellipse, spiral), the richness of his colors and gestures never ceases to amaze.
Fully consistent with this vitality are the overweight female forms, the so-called “Rubensian” ones, which can repel the modern viewer with their somewhat ponderous physicality.
In the 1610s. Rubens develops new forms for Flemish painting, in particular, the genre of hunting scenes, which are imbued with the passionate dynamics of mature Baroque (“The Hunt for the Crocodile and Hippopotamus”). In these works, a whirlwind of compositional movement sweeps away the limitations traditionally placed on artists by line and form.
Rubens's strokes amaze with their boldness and freedom, although with all their breadth he never falls into impasto.
His unsurpassed mastery of the brush is evident both in the multi-meter compositions of the 1620s and in the precise, light, moving strokes of small works of the last period.
RUBENS WOMEN
Nowhere is the perky, cheerful, healthy spirit of Rubens more clearly felt than in his paintings depicting naked women. Erotic, as all “nude” should be, but not vulgar, solid, but not banal, his naked female figures testify to his heartfelt pleasure received from life.
It is hardly a contradiction that this greatest religious artist of his time was also a great master of the female form.
In his opinion, the human body, down to the last detail, is as much a creation of God as the life of any saint, and although he often placed nude female figures against the backdrop of past, pagan history, he always painted them with a frank directness, which reflected his strong religious beliefs. beliefs. From a technical point of view, it is almost impossible to find a flaw in Rubens' depiction of the nude, although modern tastes in relation to female beauty differ significantly from the tastes and approaches of the artist.
He painted curvy, full-bodied models not only because they better reflected the ideals of his time, but also because a body with luxurious flesh, with its folds, bulges and curves, was much more interesting for him to draw.
Rubens probably understood better than any artist in history how extraordinary, subtle nuances could be achieved using red, blue, white and brown paints to accurately reproduce the color of flesh.
Rubens' women were said to appear "made of milk and blood."
Being a brilliant colorist, Rubens masterfully knew how to reflect the subtleties of texture and structure of the body itself. Along with his predecessor Titian and his follower Renoir, he is an unsurpassed artist of the forms of the human body.
Rubens' two main masterpieces in this area are The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus and The Three Graces. They are excellent illustrations of the methods of depicting nudes that Rubens used and which were subject to changes from the middle of his creative career to his later period. In the first painting, the mythological cousins Castor and Pollux kidnap the daughters of King Messene. The whole picture is imbued with the exciting mobility of the Baroque style. The contrasting surfaces of armor brought to a shine, the hair and skin of horses, silk fabrics and naked female flesh enliven the picture with their almost tangible texture. In the figures themselves, every dimple of flesh is accurately depicted. The contrast to this picture is the second, which depicts the calm dance of the maids of Venus. It reflects the softer, more reflective style of a mature artist.
Painted a year before his death, the painting “The Three Graces” presents us with Rubens’ ideal of female beauty.
Its composition, which is a variant of a pose developed by Greco-Roman sculptors and transferred to canvas by such masters as and, is endowed with energy and strength that Rubens usually spends on much more complex subjects. Here the artist filled these three naked figures with wondrous vitality...
RUBENS AS CREATOR OF BAROQUE
Very few artists, even great ones, deserve the honor of being called the founders of a new style in painting. Rubens is an exception.
He became the creator of a vibrant and exciting style of artistic expression, later called Baroque.
The unique properties of this style of writing are clearly demonstrated in his early transitional work, St. George Slaying the Dragon. The woman standing on the left in a frozen pose is depicted in extremely detail, which is characteristic of all Rubens’ predecessors. But the heroic figure of the knight, his rearing horse, energetic gestures and bright colors demonstrate the new interest shown by Rubens in assertive action, movement, emotions. Paintings such as this one anticipated by about half a century the widespread use of the Baroque style by artists in other European countries.
The bright, lush Rubensian style is characterized by the depiction of large, heavy figures in rapid movement, excited to the limit by an emotionally charged atmosphere. Sharp contrasts of light and shadow and warm, rich colors seem to imbue his paintings with ebullient energy. He painted crude biblical scenes, swift, exciting animal hunts, sonorous military battles, examples of the highest manifestations of the religious spirit, and he did all this with an equal passion for transferring the highest drama of life onto canvas. One of his greatest admirers, a 19th-century French colorist, wrote of Rubens: “His chief quality, if preferred to many others, is his piercing spirit, that is, his astonishing life; Without this, no artist can be great... and they seem terribly meek next to him.”
No one depicted people and animals in brutal combat the way Rubens did. All of his predecessors carefully studied tamed animals and painted them in scenes with people.
Such works usually had one goal - to demonstrate knowledge of the anatomical structure of the animal and were based mainly on biblical or mythological stories. Rubens' imagination carried him far beyond the reality of history, forcing him to create a living world in which people and animals fight each other in a spontaneous battle. His hunting scenes are characterized by enormous tension: passions run high, excited people and animals fearlessly and furiously attack each other. Rubens popularized this genre in the middle of his career as an artist.
The famous painting “The Hunt for the Hippo,” one of four commissioned from Rubens by Duke Maximilian of Bavaria for one of his palaces, depicts a simply incredible fight between a crocodile, an angry hippopotamus, three hounds, three horses and five men. The entire composition of Rubens's painting is masterfully focused on the figure of the hippopotamus. The arch of his back leads the viewer's gaze upward. There, in the upper part of the picture, like a fan, there are long horse muzzles, the raised arms of hunters, pikes and swords, which form powerful diagonals, returning the viewer’s gaze to the center of the canvas, to the center of the fight. Thus, Rubens achieves a variety of forms in his painting, which, connecting and merging, enhance the drama playing out before the viewer’s eyes, transferring all his attention not to the life, but to the death of these animals in the very center of the picture.
PORTRAITS OF RUBENS
Of course, Rubens was a great master of portrait painting, and although his works are inferior in their psychologism and the degree of comprehension of the model to the portraits of Titian, Rubens is rightfully one of the most significant portrait painters in history.
Rubens' portraits can be called a real pictorial reference book of "who's who" of representatives of the Western European nobility of the 17th century.
During his eight years in Italy, he painted portraits of many aristocrats, including his very first patron, the Duke of Mantua. In 1609, after returning to Antwerp, Rubens became a court painter under the rulers of the Spanish Netherlands, Archduke Albert and Archduchess Infanta Isabella. In this position, he received the special privilege of visiting the homes of the richest and most noble nobles. He painted portraits of the English king, the Duke of Buckingham, the Countess of Shrewsbury, the Spanish king Philip IV, the French kings Henry IV and Louis XIII, the Polish king Ladislaus IV Vasa and Marie de' Medici. During his creative travels, Rubens became involved in diplomatic activities. Infanta Isabella, aware that Rubens's art gave him free access to the most noble royal houses of Europe, made him her unofficial envoy, but a very trusted person. While painting portraits or discussing orders for monumental decorative decorations on the walls of palaces, Rubens at the same time often conducted secret negotiations with kings and princes.
If one word were needed to describe the life of Peter Paul Rubens, the word “energy” would be quite suitable. His art, characterized by his ebullient vital energy, his passions, is the quintessence of the grandiose Baroque style. More than 1000 paintings by the artist are a monumental achievement.
But it is only one of many. Rubens was an amazingly well-read man, his interests ranged from Stoic philosophy to the study of rare gems. During his long travels, when he diligently studied and often copied works of art from various eras, he met on equal terms with many famous European intellectuals. Among them are such classical scholars as Nicolas Peyresc, Caspar Sciopius and the French humanist Pierre Dupuy. They all unanimously praised his sharp mind and carried on a long, scholarly correspondence with him.
“Rubens had so many talents,” noted one of his patrons, “that his ability to draw should be classified as the very last.”
RELIGIOUS AND MYTHOLOGICAL PAINTING
Rubens was a very pious man who took on the creation of religious orders with great joy and enthusiasm. One day he wrote these significant words:
“Everyone has their own gift: my talent is such that no matter how enormous the work is in terms of the number and variety of subjects, it has never surpassed my strength.”
These words most accurately reflect the amazing universality of the master’s work, for the genre range of his art accommodated almost the entire variety of themes and subjects that became widespread in Flemish and European painting of the 17th century. And although only a few of them did not find implementation in the work of Rubens, all of them, even those so far from the artist’s immediate interests, specifically “armchair” areas of painting, such as, for example, the depiction of flowers, turned out to be drawn into the circle of his influence, subordinate to the tasks set by him. art. And one of the central themes in which Rubens showed himself most vividly and fully was religious and mythological painting.
To fully understand its significance for the artist and society, it is important to remember that Rubens lived from 1577 to 1640, a period that historians usually call the Counter-Reformation, as it was characterized by the revival of the Roman Catholic Church, which made vigorous efforts to suppress the consequences of the Protestant Reformation .
It was a time of intense conflict, during which the human spirit and intellect achieved great success, but it was also known for its greed, intolerance and unparalleled cruelty... And yet the temperament characteristic of Rubens forced him to pay attention to the bright sides of human life, and not to only misfortunes.
Few great artists have expressed with greater insight and confidence the astonishing bounty of nature and the potential happiness within man. It is likely that the incredible popularity of his art during his lifetime was explained by the need for people to feel solid support in their depressed state. They needed an idea of the world around them that would resemble the saying from the Bible: “And God saw everything that He had created, and behold, it was very good.” Rubens realized that such fiery artistic expression was fully consistent with his creative convictions.
He somewhat cooled his enthusiasm for antiquity and put his own deeply touching piety into powerful pictorial art, drawing inspiration from pagan sources to give a new dimension to the reflection of Christian themes, conveying human warmth to mythological images.
Subject to the power of his imagination, this fusion of Christian and classical images delighted and inspired his contemporaries. No artist could achieve anything like this before.
LANDSCAPES
Rubens did not paint landscapes often—the demand for his work kept him mostly busy with live scenes—but he did make many sketches and studies of his favorite rural Flemish landscape. He may have used some of them for the background of his large paintings (like other artists of his time, he did not carry an easel with him to paint the landscape directly in front of his eyes). During his horseback rides through the countryside, Rubens often stopped to sketch the attractions his attention to a gate, or a bridge, or a bramble bush, which seemed interesting to him and worthy of his attention.
At the end of his life, when Rubens moved away from large orders, he again returned to the landscape theme.
Over the last decade of his life, Rubens is believed to have painted several dozen outdoor landscapes, most of which have not survived. Using his free, flowing style, developed by himself, he probably only painted for his own pleasure the land that he had looked at for so long with delight and love. After his death, seventeen of his landscapes remained. True wonders of light and color, these paintings are often personal in nature, they are much more deeply felt by him than many large scenes painted before. Here he passionately, with precise, confident strokes, displays the creative energy characteristic of his early works. The color of the landscapes is distinguished by brilliance and brightness, its outlines are muted and softened. It seems that the light comes from the picture itself, from the depths. In these works, Rubens greatly anticipated what we would later see only in the Impressionists.
With the sleek appearance of a banker and possessing the noble manners of a diplomat, in his paintings Rubens mainly depicted nude women with curvy figures.
Rubens was never a pedant. He had enough talent and charm to try himself in another field - in the field of politics. For many years after he became a nationally recognized artist, Rubens, using his profession as a cover, worked hard as a diplomat, often taking part in peace negotiations for the Spanish Netherlands, his homeland.
The artist acquired his ability to behave in society while serving as a court page for the Countess de Lalen, who adored harsh pranks and games for her courtiers.
The size of the estate in which Rubens lived during the prosperity of his work was such that the inventory of property that followed his death lasted for five whole years.
While living in Italy, the artist was popular with Italian actresses, often having love affairs with them. In addition, during the same period, he repeatedly used the services of harlots.
Rubens' favorite model was his 16-year-old wife, whom he married at the age of 53. It is her naked body that is depicted in most of the paintings of the great artist.
Rubens, despite the frank paintings he depicted, was a loving father of all his children, of whom, by the way, he had eight.
Despite a difficult and joyless childhood, the artist managed to achieve great heights and recognition. He held a knighthood and was also a good friend of Marie de' Medici and Pope Paul V.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Rubens, Peter-Paul // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907
- Rubens, P. P. Letters / trans. A. A. Akhmatova; comment V. D. Zagoskina and M. I. Fabrikant; entry Art. V. N. Lazareva; ed. and preface A. M. Efros. - M.; L.: Academia, 1933
- Peter Paul Rubens. Letters. Documents. Judgments of contemporaries. Moscow, 1977
- Jaffé, Michael (1977). Rubens and Italy. Cornell University Press.
- Belkin, Kristin Lohse (1998). Rubens. Phaidon Press.
- Vlieghe, Hans. Flemish Art and Architecture 1585-1700. Yale University Press, Pelican History of Art, New Haven and London, 1998.
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Peter Paul Rubens is rightfully considered one of the greatest Flemish artists of the 17th century. His paintings are kept in the best galleries in the world, and many of the artist’s works are visually known even to those who have never heard his name. The most famous paintings by Rubens with names and descriptions are presented later in this article.
Brief biography of the artist
Peter Paul Rubens was born on June 28, 1577 in Siegen (Germany), into a wealthy and famous family of artisans and merchants. When the future artist was 8 years old, the Rubens family moved to Cologne (Germany), where the young man studied the humanities, first at a Jesuit school, and then at a rich secular school, studied Greek and showed phenomenal memory abilities. At the age of 13, thanks to family connections, Peter Paul was given the position of page to the Belgian Countess de Lalen. But the young man did not want to be a courtier, and a year later he began to study painting. His first famous mentor was the artist Otto van Veen.
In the early 1600s, the aspiring artist traveled to Italy and Spain, where he was greatly inspired by the school of the old masters. Rubens's paintings with the titles "Self-Portrait in the Circle of Verona Friends", "Entombment", "Hercules and Omphale", "Heraclitus and Democritus" were painted during this period. He made many copies of famous paintings by Italian and Spanish artists, such as Raphael and Titian.
After a journey that lasted more than 8 years, Peter Paul Rubens arrived in the Belgian city of Antwerp, and already in 1610, in Brussels, he received the title of court painter from Duke Albrecht. Many paintings by Rubens with titles containing the names of the Duke himself and his wife Isabella Clara Eugenia appeared during that period, since the ruling couple did not want to part with the artist - their influence greatly contributed to the creative success and recognition of Rubens. But he still did not want to stay in Brussels, returned to Antwerp and married Isabella Brant, who became his favorite model and mother of three children. In 1611, the artist acquired a huge studio house for himself and his family, and from that moment on, a particularly fruitful period of his work began. Nothing constrained the artist - he was provided with money and time, and also received enough skills for free creativity.
Throughout his artistic career, Peter Paul Rubens painted more than 3,000 paintings, many of which influenced the work of subsequent generations of artists. He was no innovator, but he honed the classic Flemish style to an incredible level of vivacity and beauty.
In the 20s of the 17th century, Rubens also mastered a diplomatic career. This was facilitated by fruitful work at court. Now the artist regularly visited England and France on political issues.
In 1626, Rubens' 34-year-old wife died of the plague. After this shock, he left painting for a while and delved into political and diplomatic activities. Now his missions extended to Denmark and Spain, but the difficult political situation and the expulsion of the Medici aroused hostility towards Rubens on the part of other diplomats, at one point they directly stated that they “don’t need artists.” He still tried to establish political connections, but finally left this area in 1635.
But in the midst of diplomatic activity, in 1630, the artist again took up his brushes seriously and decided to marry again - the chosen one of 53-year-old Rubens was the 16-year-old merchant daughter Elena Fourment. From that moment on, she became the artist’s main model and inspiration; he painted many portraits from her, and also used her to depict mythical and biblical heroines. Elena gave birth to Rubens five children, but he only lived with her for ten years. The artist died of gout on May 30, 1640.
Self-portraits
The portraits of Peter Paul Rubens that he painted himself exceed the number of self-portraits of any artist before him. And after that, only Rembrandt could compare with him in this. Rubens loved both classic self-portraits and giving his own face to some hero in a plot picture. The first such work was “Self-Portrait with Verona Friends,” painted in 1606 in Italy. It is interesting that on the canvas the author’s face differs from the faces of his friends - he seems to be illuminated by an invisible source and is the only one looking directly at the viewer.
And the most famous self-portrait can be considered painted in 1623 - almost no biography of Rubens can do without this painting, a reproduction of which is presented above. Another famous portrait is “The Four Philosophers” of 1611, which will be discussed in more detail below. The artist’s last self-portrait was a painting painted a year before his death, in 1639. A fragment of it is presented in the subtitle “Brief biography of the artist.” And here are a few more paintings in which the portrait of the author appears:
- "Self-Portrait" (1618).
- "Self-portrait with son Albert" (1620s).
- "Self-Portrait" (1628).
- "The Garden of Love" (1630).
- "Self-portrait with Helen Fourment" (1631).
- "Rubens, his wife Helena Fourment and their son" (late 1630s).
"The Last Judgment"
Rubens has two paintings called “The Last Judgment,” both of which are in the Alte Pinakothek gallery in Munich. The first of them, a fragment of which is presented above, was written in 1617. It is made in oil on a wooden panel measuring 606 by 460 cm, so the second painting, whose size is 183 by 119 cm, is often called the “Small Last Judgment.” Most of the canvas is occupied by mere mortals, literally scattered in different directions by the power of Christ who descended to them. Some of them are dressed, some are naked, but on all their faces there is horror and despair, and some are completely dragged away by demonic creatures. God in the form of Jesus Christ is depicted at the very top of the picture in the center, light emanates from him, instead of clothes there is a bright red cloth, and behind him are either saints or the dead who have already gone to heaven. On the sides of Jesus stand out the Virgin Mary and Moses with holy tablets in their hands.
In the second painting, which Rubens painted in 1620, one can see a continuation or variation of the first canvas. Despite the smaller size, the canvas is more elongated, God is again at the very top, but now an image of hell has also appeared. Sinners pour into the abyss, where they are greeted by joyful devils, and angels with trumpets do not allow people to climb up, defending themselves from them with shields.
Altar triptychs
For Rubens, altarpieces became one of the main types of artistic activity in the period from 1610 to 1620. They are called altarpieces because the artist painted them mainly to decorate the church, and some even directly in the church, in order to correctly catch the incidence of light in the place where the canvas will be located. During this time, Rubens created seven paintings with the crucifixion, five showing the moment of the removal from the cross and three with its erection, as well as many other images of Christ, saints and biblical subjects. But the most famous among them are the triptychs that are located in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Antwerp. The triptych “Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord,” a fragment of which can be seen in the main photo of this article, was created by the artist in 1610 for the altar of the ancient church of St. Wolburg, and the paintings arrived at their current location in 1816. The triptych "Descent from the Cross" (can be seen above) was created specifically for the Cathedral, where it is located to this day, from 1612 to 1614. Many call this monumental painting the best work of Rubens, as well as one of the best paintings of the Baroque era in general.
"Union of land and water"
Rubens' painting "The Union of Earth and Water", painted in 1618, is in the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg). The canvas, depicting the Earth goddess Cybele, the sea gods Neptune and Triton, as well as the goddess Victoria, has several meanings at once. Neptune and Cybele enter into an alliance, tenderly holding hands and looking at each other, they are crowned by Victoria, and Neptune's son Triton, rising from the depths of the sea, blows a conch shell. First of all, the plot personifies the divine connection between the feminine and masculine principles, since for the artist a plump naked woman has always been a symbol of the earthly, fertile, natural. But for Rubens personally, “The Union of Earth and Water” was also an allusion to the difficult situation of the Flemings, who were deprived of access to the sea during the Dutch blockade. The simplest interpretation can be considered the mythological unity of two elements, leading to world harmony. Since the painting, while in the Hermitage, was considered a property, postage stamps with this painting were issued in the USSR in 1977.
"The Three Graces"
Another of the artist’s most famous paintings was painted in the last year of his life - 1639. The painting with the elegant title “The Three Graces” is kept in the Spanish Prado Museum. It depicts, in the artist’s favorite manner, three naked plump women in some kind of paradise, personifying the ancient Roman graces - the goddesses of fun and joy. In Ancient Greece, these goddesses were called Charites. They dance smoothly, hugging each other and looking at each other, apparently in a pleasant conversation. Despite the identical figures, the depiction of which in Rubens always included exclusively smooth, rounded lines without a single angle, he introduced differences between women in hair color. A light blonde stands in the light part of the landscape against the sky, a brown-haired woman, on the contrary, is depicted against a background of trees, and between them, at the border of light and darkness, a red-haired goddess appears harmoniously.
"Two Satyrs"
Rubens' painting "Two Satyrs" continues the theme of mythological creatures. It was painted in 1619 and is currently also located in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Unlike most of the artist’s monumental works, this canvas has a relatively small format - only 76 x 66 cm. In ancient Greek mythology, satyrs were the companions of Dionysus, the god of wine, cheerful forest demons with goat legs and horns. It is known that the satyrs were not too lazy to do only two things - fornicate with nymphs and drink wine. Rubens depicted two opposite types of satyrs - the one in the background clearly prefers alcohol. His lean face and the excess flowing down his glass testify to this. In the foreground, a voluptuous man is clearly depicted - his lustful gaze and grin literally pierce the viewer, and the bunch of grapes gently squeezed in his hand will make even the most sophisticated viewer embarrassed.
"Perseus Frees Andromeda"
Above you can see fragments of three paintings. The first one belongs to the brush of Lambert Sustris - “Perseus frees Andromeda”. It was written in the mid-16th century. It was this work that inspired Rubens to create his first canvas of the same name in 1620. Having changed the somewhat flat medieval style of Sustris, the artist reproduced almost verbatim the poses of the heroes and the general mythological plot (second fragment). This painting is kept in the Berlin Art Gallery.
Two years later, Rubens again turned to the plot of Perseus and Andromeda and painted another picture with the same name (third fragment). Despite the slight difference, the artist’s characteristic style is already more fully revealed here - the goddess of victory Nike again crowns the heads of the characters, and small cupids flutter around. Despite the fact that Perseus is an ancient Greek hero, he is dressed in the costume of a Roman warrior. Like “The Union of Earth and Water,” this painting belongs to the collection of the State Hermitage.
"Venus in front of the mirror"
In his 1615 painting “Venus in Front of a Mirror,” Rubens to some extent repeats the plot created earlier by Titian, in which a half-naked Venus looks into a mirror held by Cupid. However, the black maid present next to Rubens' Venus suggests that his Venus is not a goddess at all, but an earthly woman prone to divine narcissism. According to his custom, the artist again depicted a plump, white-skinned woman without clothes, but with gold jewelry and a thin, translucent linen at her feet. The maid is either combing or simply fingering her mistress’s beautiful golden hair. Currently, the painting is kept in the Vienna Museum of the Liechtenstein Collection.
"Four Philosophers"
In the 1611 painting “The Four Philosophers,” Rubens, in addition to himself, portrayed his beloved brother Philip, the learned philosopher Justus Lipsia and his student Jan Voverius, who died that year. Also featured on the canvas is Pug, Lipsia’s favorite dog, who bowed his head on Voveria’s knees. There is no special plot background in the painting: like “Self-Portrait with Verona Friends,” painted on the occasion of the death of Lipsius in 1606, the painting is a dedication to Rubens’s loved ones and the time he managed to spend next to them. You can see the painting in Florence's Palazzo Pitti.
"Lion Hunt"
From 1610 to 1620, the artist was passionate about writing hunting scenes. Having achieved enormous mastery in depicting the human body, he wanted to combine it with the demonstration of the bodies of large animals, which was only being mastered. One of the most famous paintings on this topic by Rubens is “The Lion Hunt,” painted in 1621. The confrontation between human weapons and the forces of wild animals is vividly illustrated in the courageous confrontation between two muscular lions and seven hunters, half of whom attack on horseback. One of the lions is ready to tear the hunter to the ground with a dagger, the other pulled the hunter off his horse with his teeth, grabbing the animal’s body with his claws. Despite the fact that this lion is stabbed with three spears at once, he is angry and does not retreat, and only the sword of one of the hunters gives hope of defeating the enraged beast. One of the hunters lies unconscious with a knife clutched in his hand. Particularly interesting in this picture is the fact that Eastern and European characters hunt together - this becomes clear from their clothing and weapons. Currently, the painting is kept in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Portraits of lovers
A fairly large collection consists of paintings by Rubens with titles containing the name of his first wife, Isabella Brant. As a rule, these are either her personal portraits or joint self-portraits of the couple. In the selection of reproductions above you can see:
- "Portrait of Lady Isabella Brant" (late 1620s).
- "Portrait of Isabella Brant" (1610).
- "Portrait of Isabella Brant" (1625).
- "Self-portrait with Isabella Brant" (1610).
The last painting is considered one of the artist's best portrait paintings. He and his young wife are depicted incredibly vividly, as if in a photograph - it’s hard to believe that the characters are not captured in the moment. One of the most beautiful details of this painting can be called the hands of lovers and their gentle touch, conveying love and interaction better than if the characters were simply looking at each other. Currently, the canvas is also stored in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
The portraits of Elena Fourment, which can be seen above, became the main subject of Rubens' painting in the last years of his life. Fragments of the following paintings are presented:
- "Helene Fourment and France Rubens" (1639).
- "Portrait of Helen Fourment" (1632).
- "Fur coat" (1638).
- "Elena Fourment in a wedding dress" (1631).
- "Portrait of Helen Fourment, the artist's second wife" (1630).
- "Rubens with his wife Helena Fourment and their son" (1638).
But the most famous portrait of Elena Fourment by her husband is considered to be painted in 1630, a reproduction of which is presented above. It shows the 16-year-old young wife in a gorgeous evening dress, a beautiful velvet Dutch-style hat and two delicate rose flowers pressed to her stomach. It is believed that during this period Rubens’ second wife was already pregnant, and this is what the flowers near her belly represent. The canvas is in the Royal Art Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague.
Rubens' artistic heritage is immense. Hundreds and hundreds of works - mythological and religious compositions, portraits, landscapes, small sketches and huge decorative canvases, drawings and architectural projects - all this would be enough for more than one human biography.
Peter Paul Rubens, the path to painting
The work of the Flemish master seems to be a grandiose book telling about the beauty of man, the power and greatness of nature. Rubens' art is a song of health and joy.
The great painter was born in a foreign land, in the German city of Siegen, where his parents emigrated to escape the terror of the Spanish enslavers. When, after the death of his father in 1587, the future artist and his mother moved to Antwerp, he found this rich city in complete desolation. Flanders, which, unlike Holland, remained under Spanish rule, slowly regained its strength. The country's dependent position contributed to the rapid rise of national self-awareness. But during the years of Rubens's teaching, Flemish art was still trying to find ground under its feet.
The twenty-three-year-old artist takes a decisive step - he leaves for Italy for a long time. There Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, Caravaggio become his real teachers. He studies their work, copies paintings, makes sketches of sculptures. From this time, Rubens' secular career begins. We see him at the court of the Duke of Mantua, then in Rome. In 1603 he made his first trip to Spain.
Returning to his homeland in 1608, Rubens quickly occupied a leading position in the artistic life of the country. His authority is indisputable. In Rubens's workshop (where, in particular, Jordan and Van Dyck were trained), hundreds of huge canvases were produced to order from the court, the nobility and churches. But Rubens also finds time to carry out diplomatic assignments from the Spanish governors: he travels to Holland, France, and England. In Spain in 1628, he met the young Velazquez.
Place in history
As a diplomat, Rubens spent a lot of energy trying to establish peace between the incessantly warring European powers. Disappointed, he was eventually forced to part with his political career. But it gave the artist knowledge of people and their weaknesses; Rubens “hated courtyards.”
A modern viewer may perhaps be put off by Rubens' pompous paintings dedicated to the exaltation of sovereigns. Etienne Fromentin, author of the book “The Old Masters,” likened them to a ceremonial ode - it was they who gained special fame during the artist’s lifetime. But for us, the most valuable part of Rubens’ heritage is the paintings he painted with his own hand, without the participation of a workshop. Art lovers in our country are well aware of the work of Rubens: the Hermitage houses a rich collection of drawings and one of the best collections in the world, numbering more than forty of his paintings. Here, in the Hermitage halls, you can admire the vital energy of the images of the allegory “The Union of Earth and Water”, feel the dramatic expression of the scene “The Feast of Simon the Pharisee”, enjoy the sonority of the colorful palette of the painting “Perseus and Andromeda” and the emotional Rubensian landscape.
Standing apart - not only in the Hermitage collection, but also in the artist’s work in general - is his small “Portrait of a Chambermaid,” one of the greatest masterpieces of world portraiture. There is not even a shadow of affectation in it, everything breathes with clear harmony, the colorful structure is restrained and noble.
Sooner or later, anyone who is sensitive to art will find their way to Rubens. And then, according to Fromentin, “a truly amazing spectacle will appear before him, giving the highest idea of human abilities.”