By Paul Dunwell, writing for EasyFrame
© Copyright EasyFrame 2021
What this article is about
Sir Peter Paul Rubens rose to such prominence that both Charles I of England and Philip IV of Spain knighted him. He was effectively German by birth but worked from what is now Belgium. Antwerp, his home, was then part of the Netherlands, in a golden age for the Low Countries, whose art, science and naval power, and the trade that followed, were dominant in Europe. The region was awash with money and could afford him. So could half the courts of Europe. Academia recognised him too: Cambridge University gave him a master's degree.
Rubens was the leading exponent of the 'Flemish Baroque': a painter and illustrator, writer, collector of art and books, and diplomat, exceptionally well educated, well travelled and cultured. He lived to 63 and left a huge legacy of more than 1,400 works. As a court artist he employed assistants and subcontracted work, so the authorship of some pieces, and parts of others, is blurred.
He was a Catholic working during the Counter-Reformation, the swing back towards the Catholic church after the Reformation that Martin Luther began in 1517. That resurgence involved some awful treatment of Protestants. Nothing suggests that Rubens, a gentle humanist, would have condoned it. His parents were Calvinists who had fled Catholic excesses, though they raised him a Catholic for his own safety.
What sets him apart is his ability to depict colour, light, movement and sensuality, in Christian, historical, allegorical and mythological works, in portraits and in landscapes, on canvas, wood and slate. He is famous for his well-rounded women, which is how 'Rubenesque' entered the language, though his men were lean and muscular.
Birth, early life and training
Rubens was probably born in Siegen, in modern Germany, where Anna of Saxony, wife of William of Orange, had her court. His father, Jan Rubens, was her legal adviser.
Unfortunately Jan had an affair with Anna, and she bore his child, Christine, in 1571. William of Orange discovered it. Jan was imprisoned until 1573, and then the family, Jan, his wife Maria Pijpelinckx and their children, were held under house arrest in Cologne until about a year after their fifth child, Peter Paul, was born. They were released only because Maria graciously bailed her husband out, raising 8,000 thalers from her savings and a loan. She then took pains to hide the disgrace.
Jan and Maria had fled Antwerp in the first place because as Calvinists they were in danger. They were allowed to return soon after Peter Paul's birth, but Jan died when his son was 10.
After a good schooling, Rubens was working at 13 as a page to a countess. The next year he began training as an artist, which continued until he was 21, with the landscapist Tobias Verhaeght. Much of it involved copying Raphael and Hans Holbein the Younger. He was also taught by Otto van Veen, a painter and draughtsman, and Adam van Noort, a painter and designer of engravings.
Italy, the Spanish court and his influences
In 1600 he set off for Venice, Florence and Rome to soak up Titian, Tintoretto, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio. Early on he struck a deal with the Duke of Gonzaga, in northern Italy, to copy works by the great masters, paint new ones including an altarpiece, and buy art. So his years in Italy, until 1608, were the start of his becoming something of an emissary.
The duke had a murderous reputation: in 1582, in a fit of jealousy, he had killed a brilliant Scottish polymath, James Crichton. Presumably Rubens had the sense not to look too brilliant himself!
In 1603 Rubens broke off to spend a year in Spain as a diplomat for the duke, taking presents to Philip III. For him it was another chance to see great art, study how it was made and paint for new clients.
Back in Antwerp
He returned to Antwerp in 1609, hoping to see his mother before she died, but arrived too late. By now he was writing and illustrating books as well. He was hired by the Archduke of Austria and his Spanish wife, who ruled the Netherlands. Such was his reputation that they let him work in Antwerp instead of Brussels, and for other clients too.
It was a period of consolidation. He married Isabella Brant and built a couple of exceptional homes, a library, a gallery and a studio. There he trained great young artists, including Anthony van Dyck, later a court painter in England and a knight. He formed friendships with fellow artists such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, who painted plants, and Frans Snyders, who specialised in animals.
He also saw the potential of new technology, notably the printing press, to exploit his fame. He made deals with engravers and printers to reproduce his work under an early form of copyright protection.
A decade with the French court
From 1621 to 1630 Rubens worked for Marie de' Medici, by then the queen mother of France, who was allied with Cardinal Richelieu. His cycle celebrating her life with Henry IV was never finished, because her son Louis XIII threw her out in 1630. When she died 12 years later, it was in the house in Cologne where Rubens had grown up.
In these years the courts of Europe used Rubens rather like a messenger pigeon. There were various initiatives to avert wars, mostly between Protestant and Catholic countries, and he found himself travelling to meet Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. He also met and befriended Velázquez.
In 1626 his first wife, Isabella, who had given him three children, died of the plague in Antwerp. He had moved the family to Brussels in 1625 to escape it, and they returned when the danger seemed to have passed. It was too soon. He was devastated.
In 1630, at 53, he married the 16-year-old Hélène Fourment, Isabella's niece, with whom he had more children. Both wives came from well-to-do families, though he could have married into the nobility.
The last decade in Antwerp
By 1630, with a young wife and a growing family, he seems to have decided to give up shuttle diplomacy and focus on his art. Some say he found the diplomacy thankless, but he was a businessman and must have known it opened doors. To the end, which came suddenly with a heart attack brought on by chronic gout, he was still working on ambitious projects for clients abroad.
Conclusion
When the only way to get about was by horse and coach, Rubens travelled more widely than most of us do today. His reputation preceded him, and he was trusted and welcome in every court in Europe. His art was hugely significant, and we will never know whether his diplomacy also staved off wars and saved lives.
You can buy unframed prints of his work easily and affordably. Try the National Gallery at www.nationalgallery.co.uk/products/rubens or www.ukposters.co.uk/peter-paul-rubens/. Originals are pricey. 'Massacre of the Innocents' fetched £49.5m in 2002, and even 'Portrait of a Commander', a picture of an unidentified sitter, fetched £9m when it was last sold.
You'll want to frame whatever you buy. Any good framers will show you a range of solutions and advise on what suits the work and where it will hang. EasyFrame is on 01234 856 501 and sales@EasyFrame.co.uk, and they'll always chat even if you don't want to buy!