Peter Paul Rubens: biography and best works. Women from Rubens' paintings: grotesque or nature's generosity

In the brilliant cohort of Flemish painters Peter Paul Rubens occupies a dominant position. With his work, the extraordinary flowering of Dutch art in the 17th century began, due to the revival of the country after many years of wars for independence. This heyday was short-lived, but Rubens made it the present era painting.

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 own plans 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, having painted many commissioned portraits and demonstrated 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, had an endearing charm and a real male 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 Franz Snyders continued his fame.

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 skill becomes majestic and close to absolute perfection.

Later, years of continuous work begin to take their toll, Rubens is tormented by gout, his hands refuse to obey, and 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.

Self-portrait. 1623

Peter Paul Rubens (Dutch. Pieter Paul Rubens) June 28, 1577, Siegen - May 30, 1640, Antwerp) - a prolific Flemish painter who, like no one else, embodied mobility, unbridled vitality and sensuality European painting Baroque era. Rubens's work is an organic fusion of the traditions of Bruegelian realism with the achievements of the Venetian school. Although his fame thundered throughout Europe large-scale works to mythological and religious themes 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, chapter Flemish school Baroque painter, architect, statesman and diplomat. He directed an extensive workshop that produced numerous monumental and decorative compositions on orders from the European aristocracy. Created with my own hands a large number of works: 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. art XVII-XIX 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.

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 developed into 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. 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 liberal arts 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 Italian Renaissance and who, especially the latter, managed 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 finish his art education to Italy, where he studies the works of Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio.

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.
IN Italian period In his activities, 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 independent work, of which we should name: “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).

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.

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, the building of which he designed in the style of a Genoese palazzo (restored in 1937–1946), soon became community center and a 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”).

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

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 (Palazo 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 studio, in which such artists worked major painters, like A. van Dyck, J. Jordaens, F. Snyders, performed 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.

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 quite often attracted by the Spanish rulers to perform 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 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.

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 writes small paintings, performing them with his own hands, without the help of a workshop. His main model is his young wife. Rubens captures it 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).

"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”).

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. According to the sketches and sketches of the great artist, they were built and painted triumphal arches and the scenery that decorated the city streets along which the prince’s motorcade followed (these sketches are in the Munich Pinakothek and in 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), and whole line landscapes, including “The Arrival of Odysseus to the Phaeacians” (in the Pitti Gallery, Florence) and “The Rainbow” (in the Hermitage).

Landscape: milkmaids and cows. 1618.Royal Collection, London

Despite his intense 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.
Latest works Rubens - “The Three Graces”, “Bacchus” and “Perseus Freeing Andromeda” (finished by Rubens’ student J. Jordaens).

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

At the beginning of the 17th century, medieval religious forms and genres were finally overcome in Flemish art. Secular subjects and genres spread: historical and allegorical, mythological, portrait and everyday genres, landscape. Following mannerism, the academicism of the Bolognese school and Caravaggism penetrated from Italy. Based on the crossing of the realistic tradition of Old Netherlandish painting and Caravaggism, the realistic direction developed, and the monumental Baroque style flourished. From the second half of the 16th century, Antwerp became the largest artistic center in Flanders, retaining the importance of a large European money market.

The head of the Flemish school of painting, one of greatest masters The brush of the past was Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). His work clearly expresses both powerful realism and a unique national version of the Baroque style. Comprehensively gifted, brilliantly educated, Rubens matured early and emerged as an artist of enormous creative scope, sincere impulses, bold daring, and stormy temperament. A born muralist, designer of theatrical performances, graphic designer, architect-decorator, talented diplomat who spoke several languages, humanist scientist, Rubens enjoyed honor and fame at the princely and royal courts of Mantua, Madrid, Paris, and London.

Rubens is the creator of huge baroque pathetic compositions, sometimes capturing the apotheosis of the hero, sometimes filled with tragedy. The power of plastic imagination, the dynamism of forms and rhythms, the triumph of the decorative principle form the basis of his work. Rubens was born in the city of Siegen (Germany), where his father emigrated to escape the persecution of the Inquisition. He received his education at the Latin school of Antwerp, and studied painting with the novelist Otto van Weenius and Van Noort, an adherent of the national tradition. A trip to Italy, where he studied the works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Veronese, Correggio, Caravaggio, as well as ancient monuments, contributed to rapid creative growth.

Upon his return to Antwerp in 1608, Rubens became the court artist of the Spanish viceroy of the Netherlands. His fame grew quickly. Numerous orders prompted Rubens to organize a painting workshop, where they worked best artists countries. With his graphic works, Rubens formed a national school of engravers.

The early (Antwerp period) works of Rubens (before 1611 - 1613) bear the imprint of the influence of the Venetians and Caravaggio. At the same time, his characteristic sense of dynamics and variability of life manifested itself. Rubens painted huge canvases that were unknown to the Dutch in the 16th century. He paid special attention to the creation of altar compositions for Catholic churches. In them, scenes of suffering and martyrdom, along with the moral victory of the dying hero, were played out before the audience, as if reminiscent of the recently past dramatic events of the Dutch revolution. This is how the composition “Elevation of the Cross” (circa 1610–1611, Antwerp, Cathedral) was solved, where a raised cross with the mighty figure of Christ illuminated by a narrow sheaf of light dominates a group of despairing, grieving loved ones and executioners hostile to them, as well as blasphemous guards. The beautiful head of Christ, inspired and suffering, courageous and full of peace of mind, is “the culminating and most expressive note of the poem, in other words its supreme stanza” (Fromentin). “The Raising of the Cross” shows how the Flemish painter rethought the experience of the Italians. From Caravaggio, Rubens borrowed powerful chiaroscuro and plastic convincing forms. At the same time, the expressive figures of Rubens are filled with pathos, captured by rapid, intense movement, which were alien to the art of Caravaggio. A tree bent by a gust of wind, the fury of efforts of athletic executioners hastily raising a cross, sharp angles of figures intertwining with each other, restless glare of light and shadow sliding over muscles trembling from tension - everything merges into a single swift impulse that unites both man and nature.

Rubens embraces the whole in its diverse unity. Each individual reveals character through interactions with other characters. The principles of classical composition of Renaissance art with its typical isolation and isolation of the depicted scene are collapsing. The space of the painting is considered as part of the vast surrounding world. This impression is emphasized by the diagonal of the cross, which seems to burst out of the frame with a bold cut of wood and figures. Rubens' monumental altar compositions were organically included in the baroque splendor of the church interior, captivating with their spectacle, intensity of style, and intense rhythms (“Descent from the Cross,” 1611–1614, Antwerp, Cathedral).

The freshness of his perception of life and the desire to impart convincing truth to what is depicted constitute the essence of his works. Heroes of ancient myths, Christian legends, contemporary historical figures and people from the people live a tireless life in his canvases; perceived as part of a powerful, pristine nature. Paintings by Rubens early period They are distinguished by a colorful palette in which one can feel deep heat and sonority; they are imbued with the pathos of feelings, hitherto unknown to Dutch art, which gravitated towards intimacy, towards the poetry of the everyday.

Rubens was a great master of paintings on mythological and allegorical themes. Traditional images of folk fantasy gave him a reason to depict heroic feelings and exploits. Like the ancient masters, Rubens saw in man a perfect creation of nature. Hence the artist’s special interest in depicting living human warmth. He valued in him not ideal beauty, but full-blooded beauty, with an abundance of vitality. Stories about the exploits of ancient gods and heroes are free improvisations by Rubens, dedicated to glorifying the beauty of life, the joy of existence. In "Bacchanalia" (1615–1620, Moscow, State Museum visual arts), depicting a festival in honor of the god of wine Bacchus, mythological images are carriers of the natural elemental principle, fertility, and inexhaustible love of life.

From the second decade of the 17th century, the dramatic dynamics of Rubens' compositions intensified. The movement of plastic masses and the pathos of gestures are emphasized by the expression of fluttering fabrics and the turbulent life of nature. Complex compositions are built asymmetrically along a diagonal, ellipse, spiral, on the opposition of dark and light tones, contrasts of color spots, with the help of many intertwining wavy lines and arabesques that unite and permeate the groups. In “The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” (1619–1620, Munich, Alte Pinakothek), the drama of the passions that captivate the heroes reaches its climax. The bodies of young women fighting the kidnappers and rearing horses form a pattern complex in linear and color rhythms - it emphasizes the structure of the composition. The restless silhouette of the group is torn apart by violent gestures. The pathos of the composition is enhanced by the low horizon, thanks to which the figures of the heroes rise above the viewer and look clearly against the backdrop of the stormy sky.

Rubens often turned to the themes of man’s struggle with nature, to hunting scenes: “Boar Hunt” (Dresden, Art Gallery), “Lion Hunt” (circa 1615, Munich, Alte Pinakothek; sketch - St. Petersburg, Hermitage). The fury of the fight, physical and spiritual tension are brought to the utmost intensity. The thrill of life is conveyed by the artist in all phenomena of the material world, its natural forms.

Rubens's talent for painting reached its peak in the 1620s. Color has become the main expresser of emotions, organizing the beginning of compositions. Rubens abandoned local color and switched to tonal multilayer painting on white or red ground, combining careful modeling with light sketchiness. Blue, yellow, pink, red tones are given in relation to each other in subtle and rich shades; they are subordinate to the main silver-pearl or warm olive. Delicate bluish shadows, easily modeling volumes, reddish reflexes, sliding and flashing, fill the forms with a thrill of life, the artist emphasizes the strength of some tones and the softness of others. The color of individual objects is conveyed by a dense layer of body paints. Where necessary, the primer and underpainting are shown through the active colors. Transparent layers of liquid glaze are applied over the body paints, enhancing the depth of tone, freshness and lightness of the painting, softening the contours; light areas are highlighted with thick highlights. One gets the impression of the variability of an object shrouded in a vibrating light-air environment.

These features of Rubens' radiant palette characterize the Hermitage masterpiece - the painting "Perseus and Andromeda" (1620–1621, glorifying the knightly valor of the hero who defeated the sea monster to whom Andromeda was intended as a sacrifice. Rubens glorifies the great power of love overcoming obstacles. The heroic theme is revealed by pictorial and plastic means, intense internal dynamics of lines, forms, rhythms. Medusa's face is frozen in rage, striking the dragon with a deadly gaze. The metal of Perseus's armor sparkles menacingly. The triumphant mighty Pegasus is joyfully excited. The excited rhythmic movement that permeates the composition, like a whirlwind, is perceived as an echo of a recent battle. As it approaches Andromeda, it freezes and is barely felt in the trembling of the smooth outlines of her figure. Perseus rushes towards her with a confident, courageous step, the goddess of victory Victoria flies easily and swiftly, crowning Perseus with a laurel wreath. The bright red color of Perseus’s cloak, the cold silver of his armor contrast with the warm, gentle tone of Andromeda's body, as if woven from light, surrounded by a halo of sparkling golden hair. The light-air environment dissolves the contours of her body. The subtlest juxtapositions of pink-yellow tones with blue undertones, brown tones with flashing red reflexes add reverence to the rounded shapes. Shimmering spots of light yellow, pink, red and blue - fluttering clothes, united by a golden underpainting, form a single, coherent stream of colors, generating an atmosphere of jubilation.

By this time, twenty large compositions on the theme “The Life of Marie de’ Medici” (1622–1625, Paris, Louvre) were created, intended to decorate the Luxembourg Palace. This is a kind of picturesque ode in honor of the ruler of France. In the canvas “The Arrival of Marie de Medici in Marseille,” the theatricality of the whole is combined with naturalness and freedom in the arrangement of figures.

In the 1620s, Rubens worked a lot as a portrait painter. He continued humanistic tradition portrait of the High Renaissance, but showed a more direct, personal attitude towards people, revealing much more the sensual fullness of life and the charm of the model. “Portrait of a Young Woman” (circa 1625, St. Petersburg, Hermitage) enchants with the thrill of life and the lyricism of the youthful image. The girl's face, surrounded by the pearly white foam of the collar, stands out against the dark background. The ease of writing, golden reflexes and transparent shadows, juxtaposed with freely placed cold highlights, convey the clarity and purity of her spiritual world. Light sparkles in the moist, slightly sad green eyes. It flutters in golden hair, flickers in pearls. The wavy line of the brushstroke gives rise to the illusion of vibration of the surface, a feeling of inner life and movement.

Rubens enriches portraiture by revealing public role portrayed. This was in keeping with the concept of the imposing Baroque portrait, designed to depict people of “dignity” and “importance.” Rubens's heroes are endowed with a sense of their own superiority and arrogant sedateness. In portrait compositions, an important role is played by the restraint of a calm pose, a special turn of the figure, head, a meaningful, dignified look and gesture, a spectacular costume, the solemnity of the setting, emphasized by heavy curtains or columns, insignia and emblems. With the help of the costume of the person being portrayed, what is unsaid by the model’s face and her gesture is revealed. In “Self-Portrait” (circa 1638, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), the turn of the head, a slightly arrogant but benevolent gaze, a wide-brimmed hat, a relaxed elegant posture - everything contributes to revealing the ideal of a man with a broad outlook, occupying a prominent position, gifted, intelligent, confident in in your own strength.

The Late Period began in the 1630s artistic activity Rubens. After the death of Isabella Brant, the artist married Elena Fourman. Fed up with fame and honors, he retired from diplomatic activities, refused official orders and spent most of his life in the countryside castle of Stan. Rubens painted small-format paintings that bear the imprint of his personal experiences. His perception of the world became deeper and calmer. The compositions acquired a restrained and balanced character. The artist focused on their pictorial perfection: the coloring lost its multicoloredness and became generalized. These last decades of Rubens's work represent the pinnacle of his artistic development. Rubens turned to depicting folk life, painted landscapes, portraits of his loved ones, his wife, children, himself surrounded by them; he was especially successful in images of children: “Portrait of Helen Fourment with Children” (1636, Louvre, Paris). Often intimate notes sound in his works. The image of Elena Fourment, a young Flemish woman, with her elastic body, satiny skin, soft fluffy hair, sparkling eyes - lush, blooming, feminine and charming - is full of special freshness. The body, shimmering with delicate mother-of-pearl colors, is set off by the dark fluffy fur of the fur coat - the painting “Fur Coat”, (1638–1639, Vienna, Historical and Art Museum). The artist subtly feels the shades of translucent colors, delicate, bluish-gray shadows, pink strokes, turning into each other and forming like an enamel alloy.

One of the central themes of this period is rural nature, sometimes full of epic grandeur, powerful beauty and abundance, sometimes captivating with simplicity and lyricism. In Rubens's canvases, endless expanses of fields and pastures, rising hills, groves with lush tree crowns, lush grass, swirling clouds, winding rivers and country roads that cross the composition diagonally come to life. The primordial power of nature and its mighty breath are consonant with the figures of peasants and peasant women engaged in daily labor. The artist builds the landscape with large colorful masses, sequentially alternating plans: “Peasants returning from the fields” (after 1635, Florence, Pitti Gallery). The folk basis of Rubens’s work is clearly manifested in “The Peasant Dance” (between 1636 and 1640, Madrid, Prado), where young peasants, beautiful in their health, overflowing with cheerfulness, are given in an organic connection with the poetic image of the fertile land. IN further creativity Rubens had a huge impact on the development of European painting. It was of particular importance for the formation Flemish painting, and above all – Van Dyck.

Rubens (Rubens) Pieter Powel (1577-1640), Flemish painter.

Born on June 28, 1577 in Siegen (Germany) in the family of a lawyer - an emigrant from Flanders. In 1579 the family moved to Cologne; Rubens spent his childhood there.

After the death of their father in 1587, the mother and children moved to Antwerp. Rubens studied at the school of Rombut Verdonck, then he was assigned as a page to Countess Margarita de Ligne. At the same time, Peter Powel took drawing lessons from artists Tobias Verhahat, Adam van Noort and Otto van Veen.

When Rubens turned 21, he was accepted as a master into the Guild of St. Luke, an Antwerp association of artists and craftsmen. At this time, Rubens participated in the decoration of the residence of the new rulers of the Netherlands - Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella.

In May 1600, the artist went to Italy, where he entered the service of the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo Gonzaga. In March 1603, the Duke sent him on an embassy to Spain. Rubens brought gifts to the Spanish royal family, including several paintings by Italian masters. He added his own paintings to them. Rubens' works were highly praised in Madrid, and it was in Spain that he first became famous as a painter. After returning from the trip, Rubens traveled around Italy for eight years - he visited Florence, Genoa, Pisa, Parma, Venice, Milan, and lived for a long time in Rome.

In the autumn of 1606, the artist received one of the most tempting orders - painting the main altar of the church of Santa Maria in Vallisella.

In 1608, his mother died, and Rubens went home. He received the position of court painter in Brussels with the Infanta Isabella and Archduke Albert.

In 1609, Rubens married 18-year-old Isabella Brandt, the daughter of the secretary of the city regency. The artist bought a mansion on Vatter Street, which now bears his name. In honor of the wedding, Rubens painted a double portrait: he and his young wife, holding each other’s hands, are sitting against the backdrop of a spreading honeysuckle bush. At the same time, the artist created a huge canvas “The Adoration of the Magi” for the city hall in Antwerp.

In 1613, Rubens commissioned Albert to complete “The Assumption of Our Lady” for the Church of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle in Brussels. His painting of the altar of the Antwerp Cathedral was an extraordinary success: “The Descent from the Cross” (center), “Punishment of the Lord” (left), “Presentation in the Temple” (right) (1611-1614). Rubens painted the paintings “Lion Hunt”, “Battle of the Greeks with the Amazons” (both 1616-1618); “Perseus and Andromeda”, “The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus” (1620-1625); cycle of paintings “The History of Marie de Medici” (1622-1625).

IN late creativity The painter's central place is occupied by the image of his second wife Elena Fourman, whom he depicts in mythological and biblical compositions ("Bathsheba", circa 1635), as well as in portraits ("Fur Coat", circa 1638-1640).

The feeling of cheerfulness and fun is embodied in scenes from folk life (Kermessa, circa 1635-1636). By the 30s. Most of Rubens's best landscapes also apply (Landscape with a Rainbow, circa 1632-1635).

Peter Paul Rubens (Dutch. Pieter Paul Rubens, IPA: [ˈpitər "pʌul "rybə(n)s]; June 28, 1577, Siegen - May 30, 1640, Antwerp) - Dutch (Flemish) painter, one of the founders of Baroque art, diplomat , collector. Rubens' creative legacy includes about 3,000 paintings, a significant part of which were made in collaboration with students and colleagues, the largest of whom was Anthony van Dyck. According to M. Jaffe's catalog, there are 1403 authentic paintings. Rubens' extensive correspondence, mostly diplomatic, has survived. He was elevated to the dignity of nobility by the Spanish king Philip IV (1624) and knighted by the English king Charles I (1630) with the inclusion of a heraldic lion in his personal coat of arms. With the acquisition of Steen Castle in Elevate in 1635, Rubens received the title of lord.

Rubens's work is an organic fusion of the traditions of Bruegelian realism with the achievements of the Venetian school. Rubens specialized in religious painting (including altar images), painted paintings on mythological and allegorical subjects, portraits (he abandoned this genre in last years life), landscapes and historical paintings, also made sketches for trellises and book illustrations. In the technique of oil painting, Rubens was one of latest artists who used wooden panels for easel work, even very large ones.

Peter Paul Rubens (in the local dialect "Peter Pauwel Rubbens") came from a venerable Antwerp family of artisans and entrepreneurs, mentioned in documents since 1396. Representatives of the family of his father - Jan Rubens - were tanners, carpet makers and pharmacists, the ancestors of his mother - née Peipelinks - were engaged in carpet weaving and trade. Both families were wealthy, owned real estate, but, apparently, were not at all interested in culture and art. Jan Rubens's stepfather, Jan Lantmeter, ran a grocery business and sent his stepson to the law faculty of the University of Louvain. In 1550, Jan Rubens moved to the University of Padua, and in 1554 to the University of Rome in the department of civil and canon law. In 1559 he returned to his homeland and almost immediately married Maria Peypelinx, and in 1562 he rose from the burgher class, being elected écheven. The position involved control over the implementation of Spanish legislation. By 1568, Rubens did not hide his sympathies for Calvinism and took part in the preparation of the Orange uprising. The family by that time was already large: son Jan Baptist was born in 1562, daughters Blandina and Klara were born in 1564-1565, and son Hendrik was born in 1567. Due to the terror of the Duke of Alba, the Rubens moved to Mary's relatives in Limburg, and in 1569 they settled in Cologne.

Jan Rubens continued to act as a lawyer, and he did not abandon his sympathies for Calvinism, which was expressed, in particular, in the fact that he did not go to mass. The family lived near the residence of William of Orange, with whose wife, Anna of Saxony, Rubens Sr. entered into a close relationship, which ended in an unwanted pregnancy. In March 1571, Jan Rubens was arrested for illicit relations and spent two years in prison in Dillenburg, and after the trial he was exiled to the small town of the Duchy of Nassau, Siegen. His wife followed him; two of her letters have been preserved, which, according to V.N. Lazarev, “are wonderful documents of sublime female love and selfless devotion.” The family was reunited on Trinity Day 1573, and in 1574 their son Philip was born. They had to live in poverty: Jan Rubens did not have the right to work in his specialty, Maria was engaged in gardening and rented out rooms in a house provided by relatives. On June 29, 1577, their sixth child, Peter Paul, was born. After Anne of Saxony died that same year, the Nassau family abandoned the pursuit of the Rubens family. In 1581, the Rubens were able to return to Cologne, renting a large house on Sternegasse, which later became the residence of Marie de Medici. The seventh child was born in this house - son Bartholomeus, who did not live long. Jan Rubens repented and returned to the Catholic Church, after which he was again able to practice as a lawyer. In addition to his fees, the family continued to generate income from renting out rooms.

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