Focus on this artwork and discuss the Artistic style.
Rubens' work, including Consequences of War, represents the height of Flemish Baroque painting. His style is referred to as pan-European and synthesizes elements of Italian Renaissance and Baroque artists to form his own artistic approach. The work of Michelangelo, Titian, Carracci, and Caravaggio informed Rubens's paintings in varying degrees.Viewers note the influence of Michelangelo in Rubens's interest and brilliance in depicting the human form. Consequences of War contains not only Rubens's trademark women but also the well muscled forms of Mars, Alekto, and the architect. These muscular figures are reminiscent of the powerful specimens depicted in Michelangelo's Last Judgment, David, and The Creation of Adam. This trend in Rubens's art is actually best shown in the extraordinarily well built men of Rubens's Elevation of the Cross.
Titian's influence is most evident with respect to depiction of the female nude. Rubens's women bear a striking resemblance to Titian's Venus with a Mirror and Nymph and Shepherd. However, Titian's most famous work, Venus of Urbino, undoubtedly inspired Rubens's depiction of her in Consequences of War. The similarity between the two portraits of the goddess is unmistakable.
Rubens's debt to Annibale Carracci lies at least in part in his composition. The densely populated drama of Consequences of War recalls Carracci's Loves of the Gods, in particular The Triumph of Bacchus. Furthermore, the careful use of color, light, and shadow as opposed to line to show space used by Carracci in Flight into Egypt became a key part of Rubens's style. Indeed, Rubens's style became a highly coloristic one.
The Creation of Adam Nymph and Shepherd Titian The Triumph of Bacchus architect Venus of Urbino Flemish Baroque Flemish Baroque painting Italian Renaissance Baroque Caravaggio Venus with a Mirror Europe Mars Michelangelo Venus angel Alekto Carracci