"I'm just a simple man standing alone with my old brushes, asking God for inspiration."
Happy Birthday, Peter Paul Rubens!
Peter Paul Rubens was born in Siegen, Westphalia on June 28th, 1577 into a Calvinist family. After the death of his father, 10 years later, he and his family moved to Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium), where he was raised a Catholic. Perhaps the best Flemish Baroque painter, Rubens is known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological & allegorical subjects. In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp, Rubens was a classically-educated scholar, art collector, and diplomat who was knighted by both King of Spain, Philip IV, and King of England, Charles I.
In 1600, Rubens traveled across Italy studying the works of Titian, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Tintoretto, the ancient Hellenistic sculpture Laocoon and his Sons, as well as, his contemporary Caravaggio. Italy had a great artistic impact on Rubens. In 1609, Rubens married Isabella Brant with whom he had three children. After Isabella's untimely death, Rubens remarried in 1630 to Helene Fourment. Helene is the woman who inspired the artist's signature "rubenesque" voluptuous figures in many of his paintings. Toward the end of his life, Rubens bought an estate outside of Antwerp which influenced many of his landscapes.
On May 30, 1640, Peter Paul Rubens died from gout. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, color, and sensuality following a dramatic artistic style. Rubens is a master credited with more than 1000 works, attributing [his] "passion comes from the heavens, not from earthly musings."
