Rubens was born in Westphalia in present-day Germany in 1577. He moved with his family to Antwerp at a young age and trained under a handful of artists there. Arguably his real education, however, came upon leaving for Italy in 1600, where he encountered the works of Mantegna, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian and other masters.
Rubens ended up spending eight years in Italy, most of it as court painter to Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. He didn’t only create artworks for Gonzaga, however — he also went on diplomatic missions for him. An urbane figure who spoke five languages, Rubens for much of his life twinned a career as an emissary with one as an artist.
In 1608, he returned to Antwerp for good. The city was then part of the Spanish Netherlands, and Rubens — a devout Catholic — frequently produced pictures in line with the Counter Reformation. Two of his best-known works, the triptychs The Elevation of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross, were painted for Antwerp’s Cathedral of Our Lady and can still be seen there.
His style was essentially a mix of Northern European naturalism with the colour and dramatics of Italian Renaissance art.
‘The painter of princes and the prince of painters’ is how one of Rubens’ peers described him. This reflected the fact that his works were coveted by many of Europe’s most important figures. These included Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella, the rulers of the Spanish Netherlands; Charles I, the King of England; and Philip IV, the King of Spain, for whom he painted Saturn devouring a Son in 1636–38 (a canvas which can today be found in the Museo del Prado in Madrid).
Late in life, Rubens turned increasingly to painting landscapes around a rural castle he acquired called Het Steen. He died in 1640, aged 62.
Portrait of a commander, three-quarter-length, being dressed for battle
Two studies of a man, head and shoulders
Portrait of a young woman, half-length, holding a chain
Head of a bearded man in profile holding a bronze figure
Scipio Africanus welcomed outside the gates of Rome, after Giulio Romano
Portrait of a lady, probably Isabella Brant (1591-1626), as a shepherdess
The Archduke Albert and Infanta Isabella, Governors of the Netherlands: Design for the title page of the 'Gelresche Rechten' ('Rights of the Province of Gelderland') ( recto ); The same composition traced through in reverse ( verso )
An écorché study of the legs of a male nude, with a subsidiary study of the right leg
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577-1640 Antwerp) extensively reworking a drawing attributed to Hans Witdoeck (Antwerp 1615-after 1642)
Saint Ildefonso receiving the Chasuble from the Virgin
A double-sided sheet of studies: Hippodameia abducted by the centaur Eurytion, and Hercules overcoming the river-god Achelous in the form of a bull ( recto ); Christ shown to the People, and The Way to Calvary ( verso )
The Virgin and Child with Saints George, Jerome, Mary Magdalene and three others
Eucharistic Teachers and Saints: Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine, Clara, Thomas Aquinas, Norbert and Jerome, with the dove of the Holy Spirit
Three figures in classical mantles, probably apostles
The Virgin supporting the Christ Child on a parapet
Portrait of Cornelis Lantschot, three-quarter length, holding gloves, a landscape beyond
The Roman Emperors Augustus; Caligula; Claudius; Nero; Galba; Vespasian; Titus; and Domitian
The Virgin and Child surrounded by flowers
Portrait of a gentleman, probably Peter van Hecke; and Portrait of a Lady, probably his wife, Clara Fourment.
Portrait of a lady, traditionally identified as Helena Fourment (1614-1673)