Art, literature & historyDonna con palma in mano
Peter Paul Rubens · 1606 ca.
Peter Paul Rubens: 1577–1640
Other names (5)
Peter Paul Ruebens, Petri Paulo Rubbens, Pierre Rubens, Pieter Paul Rubbens, Pieter Paul Rubens
Biography
Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ROO-bənz; Dutch: [ˈpeːtər pʌul ˈrybəns]; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.
Rubens was born and raised in the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany) to parents who were refugees from Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant in the Spanish Netherlands and moved to Antwerp at about 12. In addition to running a large workshop in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. Rubens was a prolific artist. The catalogue of his works by Michael Jaffé lists 1,403 pieces, excluding numerous copies made in his workshop.
His commissioned works were mostly history paintings, which included religious and 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 royal entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria in 1635. He wrote a book with illustrations of the palaces in Genoa, which was published in 1622 as Palazzi di Genova.
The book was influential in spreading the Genoese palace style in Northern Europe. Rubens was an avid art collector and had one of the largest collections of art and books in Antwerp. He was also an art dealer and is known to have sold important art objects to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
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 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.
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Influenced by
- Tobias Verhaechteditorial inference
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- Pieter Bruegel the Eldereditorial inference
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- Paolo Veroneseeditorial inference
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- Adam van Noorteditorial inference
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- Caravaggioeditorial inference
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- Otto van Veeneditorial inference
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- Adam Elsheimereditorial inference
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Later influence
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- Theodoor van Thuldeneditorial inference
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- John Constableeditorial inference
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- Eugène Delacroixeditorial inference
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- Erasmus Quellinus the Youngereditorial inference
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- Rembrandt van Rijneditorial inference
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- George Jamesoneeditorial inference
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- Claudio Coelloeditorial inference
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- Thomas Coutureeditorial inference
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- Jan Boeckhorsteditorial inference
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- Jan Cossierseditorial inference
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Artworks by year
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Museums & collections
Documented holdings of works attributed to Peter Paul Rubens. Check the museum’s record for current display information.
- Museo Nacional del Prado56 recorded works
- Musée du Louvre48 recorded works
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art17 recorded works
- National Gallery15 recorded works
- National Gallery of Art14 recorded works
- Academy of Fine Arts Vienna13 recorded works
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie12 recorded works
- Art Institute of Chicago10 recorded works
- The Courtauld Gallery9 recorded works
- Ashmolean Museum8 recorded works
- Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK)8 recorded works
- musée des Beaux-Arts — Valenciennes5 recorded works
- Alte Pinakothek — Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen4 recorded works
- musée des beaux-arts — Lille4 recorded works
- Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts3 recorded works
- The Cleveland Museum of Art3 recorded works
- musée des Beaux-Arts — Pau2 recorded works
- musée Granet — Aix-en-Provence2 recorded works
- Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza2 recorded works
- Museu Calouste Gulbenkian2 recorded works
- Accademia Carrara1 recorded work
- Minneapolis Institute of Art1 recorded work
- musée de la Chartreuse — Douai1 recorded work
- musée des Augustins — Toulouse1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Bordeaux1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Caen1 recorded work
- musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims — Reims1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts et d’archéologie — Troyes1 recorded work
- musée des Beaux-Arts — Nancy1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Nîmes1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Quimper1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Rennes1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Rouen1 recorded work
- musée national du château de Fontainebleau — Fontainebleau1 recorded work
- Nationalmuseum1 recorded work
- Palazzo Pitti1 recorded work
- Salzburg Museum1 recorded work
- Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe1 recorded work