The baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens was born on this day in 1577. Known as the ‘Prince of Painters’, and instantly recognisable for his grand, swirling style, his art now hangs in some of the greatest art galleries and most luxurious public buildings around the world.
Self-portrait of Peter Paul Rubens. Rijksmuseum, Public Domain.
If you’ve stood in front of a Rubens painting, it’s an experience you’re unlikely to forget. Often vast in scale, they burst energetically out of their frames, full of sensual details you could almost reach out and touch: flesh ripples and bulges, eyes gleam, hair shimmers invitingly.
Classically educated, and a devout Catholic, Rubens’ paintings often depict stories drawn from the Bible and mythology. Rich with allegory and meaning, the narratives allowed him to exercise his vivid imagination, and paint scenes of immense drama.
Rubens ability to create an atmosphere of drama and tension was impressive. One example is his famous painting, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, which shows Daniel trapped amongst ten fearsome lions. To achieve the terrifying composition, he carefully studied the animal’s form through sketches and preparatory drawings.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Teylers Museum, CC BY NC
Of course, seeing a lion in seventeenth century Flanders was no easy task, but as a court painter, Rubens had access to the Royal Menagerie in Brussels. There were also two, named Flandria and Brabantia, at the zoo in Ghent.
Rubens studies of the animals show a fascinating perspective of the theatrical painter and his working processes. You start to understand his meticulous approach to form and movement, and sense the aspects of nature that drew his eye.
As art lovers and historians celebrate the life and work of this flamboyant painter, why not take the opportunity to explore some of his more understated works which together offer a subtle testament to the talent beneath the dramatic display.
Two lions. Rijksmuseum, Public Domain
Running lion from the front. Rijksmuseum, Public Domain
A dating guide to Rubens By Louise Cohen ,Published 9 February 2015
Date this weekend? Rubens is open on Friday and Saturday evenings. Here are the works not to miss – and what (not) to say about them.
Rubens and his Legacy has a lot of potential as a date-night venue. With richly-coloured walls softly-lit and hung with masterpieces of just about every genre, it’s gently romantic and brimming with history, beauty and ideas. If your date doesn’t like landscape, there’s portraiture, politics, altarpieces and allegory. In fact, if he or she doesn’t like Rubens, there’s Rembrandt, Delacroix, Cézanne and Picasso. So how could it go wrong? Well, the world of Rubens has its eccentricities… We leave it you to decide which of these handy facts to share with your date.
Peter Paul Rubens,The Garden of Love,c.1633.
The Garden of Love
Room 2
Rubens painted this party scene in a late phase in his life, having moved to a countryside estate with his beautiful new wife, the daughter of an Antwerp silk merchant.
Cute fact Some have suggested that the couple dancing on the left are meant to be Rubens himself and his new young wife, Hélène Fourment – and even that the other faces in the painting are her as well. It’s quite romantic.
Not so cute Hélène Fourment was 16. Rubens was 56.
Portrait of Maria Grimaldi
Room 3
Rubens spent nearly ten years in Genoa, flattering the Italian aristocracy with theatrical, life-size portraits. His pupil, Van Dyck, followed him to Italy and did the same.
Cute fact Van Dyck (left) looked up to Rubens (right) so much that he basically adopted his whole composition – down to the matching dogs, bottom left of each painting.
Not so cute Note the looming figure in Rubens’s painting. It was fashionable to have (yes “have”) a dwarf in those days. While their height was seen as an enjoyable novelty in this era, this particular individual appears to have been made to stand on a box for the sake of composition.
Installation view of Rubens and His Legacy
Anthony Van Dyck’s A Genoese Noblewoman and Her Son, c.1626 (left) and Peter Paul Rubens’s Portrait of Maria Grimaldi, c.1607
Peter Paul Rubens,Tiger, Lion and Leopard Hunt,c.1616.
Tiger, Lion and Leopard Hunt
Room 8
One of Rubens’s most accomplished works, this imaginary hunt scene was painted for the Prince of Bavaria and is packed with references to biblical and mythological stories. Its drama and colour influenced generations of artists who followed.
Cute fact Amid all the violence, Rubens includes a sweet moment where a tigress selflessly saves her cub, to the right of the picture. Rubens must have had a sentimental side.
Not so cute Rubens painted the lion and tiger from looking at dead animal skins.
Pan and Syrinx
Room 9
Rubens is well known for his fleshy nudes, often set in allegorical scenes. This story is from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, showing Syrinx, the handmaiden to the goddess Diana, running away from Pan, the god of fertility.
Cute fact Syrinx’s pose is based on a well-known antique statue, the Venus Pudica, which Rubens described as the “entire assemblage of all the beauties and perfections one could wish for in a woman.”
Not so cute There’s no denying that Pan’s badgering here is beyond the bounds of reasonable flirtation. As in much classical mythology, its feminist credentials are up for debate – but it has has also been noted that, despite her running away from the muscular Pan, Syrinx’s face doesn’t show any fear, and that perhaps Rubens suggests she is complicit in this lustful chase with a half-man, half-goat.
Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder,Pan and Syrinx,c.1617.
Attributed to Anthony Van Dyck,Drunken Silenus Supported by Satyrs,c. 1620.
The Drunken Silenus
Room 10
Thought to have been executed in Rubens’s studio, it’s likely that this allegorical painting was a collaboration between several artists, including Van Dyck and Rubens himself.
Cute fact In classical myth, Silenus is the teacher and companion of Bacchus, god of wine, and is usually shown fat, naked and drunk. So there’s not much cute here. But if we find him grotesque, at least it shows how accomplished Rubens was at so tangibly depicting flesh.
Not so cute According to the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones, “Silenus’s pubic hair draws attention to his flaccid state; not even the satyr who is supporting him – satyrs being incarnations of lust – has an erection.” We leave you with that thought.
Peter Paul Rubens is synonymous with Baroque style. During his life he produced paintings and altarpieces in brushstrokes dramatic and sensuous, emphasizing movement and suggesting a new naturalism. Rubens is noted for his pioneering new style of painting figures, full figured and even more nuanced. Though painted in and for the eye of the male, Rubens’ iconic treatment of the female figure in particular sparked new definitions of form.
In the late sixteenth century, Rubens undertook an apprenticeship in Antwerp where he studied under Mannerist artists and found inspiration in the work of the Old Masters. After 1600 he travelled throughout Europe, seeing and studying the work of Titian and Tintoretto in Venice, Caravaggio in Rome, and later Raphael in Spain. Informed by their Renaissance classicism, Rubens imbued a heightened sense of realism in his own style, expressed through human form. His subjects retain a softness in fleshy detail, delicately arranged and woven throughout an entire canvas.
The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens, seen today at the Museo del Prado in Madrid. (Image: via Wikipedia)
Rubens treatment of the curvaceous female body was remarkable, marked as a distinct woman central to his legacy. A reflection of the time and in line with the popular Baroque tradition, Rubens’ woman was plump in size and sexual appeal, giving rise to the term “Rubenesque.” The Three Graces depicts three virgins of classical antiquity in rich color and fullness of figure, establishing a connection between them and the surrounding fertile and lush natural world. The leftmost figure is thought to be painted after Rubens’ wife, Hélène Forment.
The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de’ Medici, completed in 1625, presents Marie as the personification of justice herself (Image: Wikipedia)
Though Rubens treatment of the female form retained the male perspective and projection that was standard in art until the twentieth century, he’s lauded for imbibing some sense of the innate qualities and experiences of womanhood. When the artist was charged with producing a series of paintings that represented the life of Maria de Medici, he relied on allegorical scenes to depict politically charged moments with subtlety and maintained Marie’s eminence through allegory. Rubens spared no dramatic nuance in celebrating Marie’s life and political accomplishments, treating female archetypes of motherhood and marriage with a sense of importance that was unusual for the time.
In The Meeting of Marie de’ Medici and Henry IV at Lyons, Marie is presented as Juno and Henry Jupiter (Image: Wikipedia)
Self-portrait of Peter Paul Rubens. Rijksmuseum, Public Domain.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Teylers Museum, CC BY NC
Running lion from the front. Rijksmuseum, Public Domain
A study of lions. Teylers Museum, CC BY-NC
A study of lions. Teylers Museum, CC BY-NC
Study of two lions. Teylers Museum, CC BY-NC
A study of six lions. Teylers Museum, CC BY-N
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