Sir Peter Paul Rubens (/ˈruːbənz/ROO-bənz;[1]Dutch:[ˈpeːtərpʌulˈrybəns]; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was aFlemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of theFlemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in theCounter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, andhistory paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and offrontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.
Rubens was born and raised in theHoly Roman Empire (modern-dayGermany) to parents who were refugees fromAntwerp in theDuchy of Brabant in theSouthern Netherlands (modern-dayBelgium) and moved to Antwerp at about 12. In addition to running a large workshop in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educatedhumanist scholar and diplomat who wasknighted by bothPhilip IV of Spain andCharles I of England. Rubens was a prolific artist. The catalogue of his works byMichael Jaffé lists 1,403 pieces, excluding numerous copies made in his workshop.[2]
His commissioned works were mostlyhistory paintings, which included religious and mythological subjects, and hunt scenes. He painted portraits, especially of friends, and self-portraits, and in later life painted several landscapes. Rubens designed tapestries and prints, as well as his own house. He also oversaw theephemeral decorations of theroyal entry into Antwerp by theCardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria in 1635. He wrote a book with illustrations of the palaces inGenoa, which was published in 1622 asPalazzi di Genova. The book was influential in spreading the Genoese palace style in Northern Europe.[3] Rubens was an avid art collector and had one of the largest collections of art and books in Antwerp. He was also an art dealer and is known to have sold important art objects toGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.[4]
He was one of the last major artists to make consistent use ofwooden panels as a support medium, even for very large works, but usedcanvas as well, especially when the work needed to be sent a long distance. Foraltarpieces, he sometimes painted onslate to reduce reflection problems.
Rubens was born inSiegen,Nassau, toJan Rubens andMaria Pypelincks. His father's family were long-time residents of Antwerp, tracing their lineage there back to 1350. Records show that a certain Arnold Rubens bought 'a house with court' in the Gasthuisstraat in Antwerp in 1396. The Rubens family belonged to the well-to-do bourgeois class, and its members were known to operate grocery shops and pharmacies.
Jan Rubens decided to study law and lived from 1556 to 1562 in the main cities of Italy to further his studies. He was awarded the degree of doctor of ecclesiastical and civil law by theSapienza University in Rome.[5] Upon his return to Antwerp, he became a lawyer and held the office ofalderman in Antwerp from 1562 to 1568. Jan Rubens married Maria Pypelincks, who came from a prominent family originally fromKuringen, nearHasselt.
A large portion of the nobility and bourgeoisie in the Southern Netherlands at the time sided with theReformation and Jan Rubens also converted toCalvinism. In 1566 the Low Countries were the victim of theiconoclastic fury, referred to in Dutch as theBeeldenstorm (pronounced[ˈbeːldə(n)ˌstɔr(ə)m]) during whichCatholic art and many forms of church fittings and decoration were destroyed in unofficial or mob actions byCalvinist Protestant crowds as part of theProtestant Reformation.[6] The ruler of the Low Countries—the Catholic Spanish kingPhilip II—reacted to the unrest by ordering the severe repression of the followers of the Reformation. In 1568, the Rubens family, with two boys and two girls (Jan Baptist (1562–1600), Blandina (1564–1606), Clara (1565–1580) and Hendrik (1567–1583)), fled to Cologne. As Calvinists, they feared persecution in their homeland during the harsh rule ofthe Duke of Alba, who, as theGovernor of the Habsburg Netherlands, was responsible for implementing the harsh repression.
Portrait of a Man, Possibly an Architect or Geographer, 1597
Jan Rubens became in 1570 the legal adviser ofAnna of Saxony, the second wife ofWilliam I of Orange who at the time lived in Cologne. She later moved to Siegen about 90 kilometres from Cologne. Jan Rubens would visit her there while his family remained in Cologne. He had an affair with Anna of Saxony, which resulted in a pregnancy in 1571.[7] Rubens was imprisoned inDillenburg Castle and under threat of execution for his transgression. The illegitimate daughter, Christina of Dietz, was born on 22 August 1571.[8]
Thanks to the repeated pleas of his wife and by paying a bail bond of 6,000thalers, Jan Rubens was permitted to leave prison after two years. The conditions of his release were a ban on practising as a lawyer and the obligation to take up residence in Siegen where his movements would be supervised. This put the rest of the family, who had joined Jan in Siegen, in financial difficulty. During this period two sons were born:Philip in 1574, followed in 1577 by Peter Paul who, although likely born in Siegen, was reportedly baptised in Cologne. Anna of Saxony died in 1577. The travel ban imposed on Jan Rubens was lifted in 1578 on condition that he not settle in the Prince of Orange's possessions nor in the hereditary dominions of the Low Countries and maintain the bail bond of 6,000 thalers as security. He was allowed to leave his place of exile in Siegen and to move the Rubens family to Cologne. While in Siegen, the family had of necessity belonged to the Lutheran Church in Cologne; the family now reconverted to Catholicism.[9] The eldest son, Jan Baptist, who may also have been an artist, left for Italy in 1586. Jan Rubens died in 1587 and was buried in Cologne'sSt. Peter's Church, a Catholic church.[8] The widow Maria Pypelinckx returned with the rest of the family (i.e. Blandina, Philip and Peter Paul) to Antwerp in 1590, where they moved into a house on the Kloosterstraat.[8]
Until his death in 1587, Jan Rubens had been intensively involved in his sons' education. Peter Paul and his older brother Philip received ahumanist education in Cologne which they continued after their move to Antwerp. They studied at the Latin school of Rombout Verdonck in Antwerp, where they studied Latin and classical literature. Philip later became a prominentantiquarian, librarian andphilologist but died young. In 1590, the brothers had to interrupt their schooling and go to work, in order to contribute financially to their sister Blandina's dowry.
While his brother Philip would continue with his humanistic and scholarly education while working as a private teacher, Peter Paul first took up a position as a page to the Countess Marguerite de Ligne-Arenberg, whose father-in-law had been the governor general of the Spanish Netherlands. The countess was the widow of Count Philippe de Lalaing and probably lived in Oudenaarde. Even though intellectually and temperamentally suited for a career as a courtier, Rubens had from a young age been attracted by the woodblock prints ofHans Holbein the Younger andTobias Stimmer, which he had diligently copied, along withMarcantonio Raimondi'sengravings afterRaphael.[10] Acting on his ambition to pursue a career as an artist, he began an apprenticeship with the landscape painterTobias Verhaecht in 1592.[8] Verhaecht was married to Suzanna van Mockenborch, who was a granddaughter of Peter Paul Rubens' stepfather Jan de Landmetere and also a cousin of his mother.[11] This family connection possibly explains the choice for Verhaecht as his first master.
Battle of the Amazons, 1598
Rubens left Verhaecht's workshop after about one year as he wished to study history painting rather than landscape painting.[10] He then continued his studies with one of the city's leading painters of the time, the artistAdam van Noort. Van Noort was a so-calledRomanist, a term used to denote artists who had travelled from theLow Countries to Rome to study the work of leading Italian artists of the period such asMichelangelo,Leonardo da Vinci,Raphael andTitian and had created upon their return home artworks that reflected their engagement with these Italian innovations. Rubens' apprenticeship with van Noort lasted about four years during which he improved his handling of figures and faces.[12]
He subsequently studied with another Romanist painter,Otto van Veen.[13] Van Veen offered Rubens the intellectual and artistic stimulation that suited his temperament. Van Veen had spent five years in Italy and was an accomplished portraitist and had a broad Humanist education. He knew Spanish royalty and had received portrait commissions as a court painter toAlbert VII, Archduke of Austria and InfantaIsabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the sovereigns of theHabsburg Netherlands.[12] Van Veen instilled in Rubens the ideal of the 'pictor doctus' (learned painter), who understands that painting requires not only practice, but also on knowledge of art theory, Classical art and literature, and the masters of the Italian Renaissance. He also introduced Rubens to the 'code of conduct' which court painters needed to respect to become successful.[14] Rubens completed his apprenticeship with van Veen in 1598, the year he entered theGuild of St. Luke as an independent master. As an independent master, he was allowed to take commissions and train apprentices. His first pupil wasDeodat del Monte who would later accompany him on his trip to Italy.[15] He seems to have remained an assistant in van Veen's studio after becoming an independent master. His works from this period, such as theAdam and Eve (Rubenshuis, Antwerp, c. 1599) and theBattle of the Amazons (Sanssouci Picture Gallery, Potsdam) show the influence of his master van Veen.[10] This style was characterised by a pronounced Italianate mannerism constrained by the Antwerp workshop tradition and the Italian art theory of the Renaissance.[14]
In 1600 Rubens travelled to Italy with his first pupil Deodat del Monte. They stopped first inVenice,[16] where he saw paintings byTitian,Veronese, andTintoretto. The colouring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an immediate effect on Rubens' painting, and his later, mature style was profoundly influenced by Titian.[17] His visit to Venice coincided with that of DukeVincenzo I Gonzaga ofMantua. It is possible that he was hired by the Duke during his stay in Venice or that Otto van Veen, who was court painter to Archdukes Albert and Isabella, joint governors of Flanders, had introduced Rubens to the Duke during the latter's visit to the Brussels court. The small Duchy of Mantua was renowned as an art centre and the Duke as an avid art collector with arich collection of Italian masters. Rubens mainly painted portraits of the Duke's family and also copied the famous Renaissance paintings in the Duke's collection.[10] With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled toRome by way ofFlorence in 1601. There, he studied classical Greek and Roman art and copied works of the Italian masters. TheHellenistic sculptureLaocoön and His Sons was especially influential on him, as was the art of Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo.[18]
Rubens travelled to Spain on a diplomatic mission in 1603, delivering gifts from the Gonzagas to the court ofPhilip III of Spain.[21] While there, he studied the extensive collections of Raphael and Titian that had been collected byPhilip II.[22] He also painted anequestrian portrait of the Duke of Lerma during his stay (Prado, Madrid) that demonstrates the influence of works like Titian'sCharles V at Mühlberg (1548;Museo del Prado, Madrid). This journey marked the first of many during his career that combined art and diplomacy.
He returned to Italy in 1604, where he remained for the next four years, first in Mantua and then inGenoa. In Genoa, Rubens painted numerous portraits, such as theMarchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), and the portrait of Maria di Antonio Serra Pallavicini, in a style that influenced later paintings byAnthony van Dyck,Joshua Reynolds andThomas Gainsborough.[23] He made drawings of the many new palaces that were going up in Genoa. These were later engraved and published in 1622 asPalazzi di Genova.
From 1606 to 1608, he was mostly in Rome when he received, with the assistance of CardinalJacopo Serra (the brother of Maria Pallavicini), his most important commission to date for the High Altar of the city's most fashionable new church,Santa Maria in Vallicella also known as the Chiesa Nuova. The subject wasSt. Gregory the Great and important local saints adoring anicon of the Virgin and Child. The first version, a single canvas (now at theMuseum of Grenoble), was immediately replaced by a second version on three slate panels that permits the actual miraculous holy image of the "Santa Maria in Vallicella" to be revealed on important feast days by a removable copper cover, also painted by the artist.[24] His brother Philip was also at the time of his second residence in Rome as a scholar. The brothers lived together on Via della Croce nearPiazza di Spagna. They had thus the opportunity to share their common interest in Classical art.[25]
Rubens's experiences in Italy continued to influence his work even after his return to Flanders. His stay in Italy had also allowed him to build a network of friendships with important figures of his time such as the scientistGalileo Galilei whom he included as the central figure in his friendship portrait he painted in Mantua known as theSelf-Portrait in a Circle of Friends from Mantua. Rubens continued to correspond with many of his friends and contacts in Italian, signed his name as "Pietro Paolo Rubens", and spoke longingly of returning to the peninsula—a wish that never materialised.[26] Rubens was a polyglot who corresponded not only in Italian and Dutch, but also in French, Spanish and Latin. His mother tongue and most commonly used idiom remained, however, the dialect of Brabant. This is demonstrated in that he wrote his most spontaneous letters in that dialect and also used it for the notes on his drawings and designs.[14]
He received special permission to base his studio in Antwerp instead of at their court inBrussels, and to also work for other clients. He remained close to the Archduchess Isabella until her death in 1633, and was called upon as a painter and also as an ambassador and diplomat. Rubens further cemented his ties to the city when, on 3 October 1609, he marriedIsabella Brant, the daughter of a leading Antwerp citizen and humanist, Jan Brant.
In 1610, Rubens moved into a new house and studio that he designed. Now theRubenshuis Museum, the Italian-influenced villa in the centre of Antwerp accommodated his workshop, where he and his apprentices made most of the paintings, and his personal art collection and library, both among the most extensive in Antwerp. During this time he built up a studio with numerous students and assistants. His most famous pupil was the youngAnthony van Dyck, who soon became the leading Flemish portraitist and collaborated frequently with Rubens. He also often collaborated with the many specialists active in the city, including the animal painterFrans Snyders, who contributed the eagle toPrometheus Bound (c. 1611–12, completed by 1618), and his good friend the flower-painterJan Brueghel the Elder. Rubens built another house to the north of Antwerp in thepolder village ofDoel, "Hooghuis" (1613/1643), perhaps as an investment. The "High House" was built next to the village church.
Rubens used the production ofprints and book title-pages, especially for his friendBalthasar Moretus, the owner of the largePlantin-Moretus publishing house, to extend his fame throughout Europe during this part of his career. In 1618, Rubens embarked upon a printmaking enterprise by soliciting an unusual triple privilege (an early form ofcopyright) to protect his designs inFrance, the Southern Netherlands, andUnited Provinces.[30] He enlistedLucas Vorsterman to engrave a number of his notable religious and mythological paintings, to which Rubens appended personal and professional dedications to noteworthy individuals in the Southern Netherlands, United Provinces,England, France, andSpain.[30] With the exception of a fewetchings, Rubens left theprintmaking to specialists, who included Lucas Vorsterman,Paulus Pontius andWillem Panneels.[31] He recruited a number of engravers trained byChristoffel Jegher, whom he carefully schooled in the more vigorous style he wanted. Rubens also designed the last significantwoodcuts before the 19th-century revival in the technique.[32]
In 1621, the Queen Mother of France,Marie de' Medici, commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband,Henry IV, for theLuxembourg Palace in Paris. TheMarie de' Medici cycle (now in the Louvre) was installed in 1625, and although he began work on the second series it was never completed.[33] Marie was exiled from France in 1630 by her son,Louis XIII, and died in 1642 in the same house in Cologne where Rubens had lived as a child.[34]
After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621, the SpanishHabsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with diplomatic missions.[35] While in Paris in 1622 to discuss the Marie de' Medici cycle, Rubens engaged in clandestine information gathering activities, which at the time was an important task of diplomats. He relied on his friendship withNicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc to get information on political developments in France.[36] Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens was very active as a diplomat. He travelled between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring about peace between the CatholicSpanish Netherlands and the Protestant Dutch Republic. He also made several trips to the Dutch Republic as both an artist and a diplomat.
Some members of the courts he visited did not treat him as an equal as they held that courtiers should not use their hands in any art or trade, but he was also received as an equal gentleman by many others. Rubens was raised byPhilip IV of Spain to the nobility in 1624 and knighted byCharles I of England in 1630. Philip IV confirmed Rubens's status as a knight a few months later.[37] Rubens was awarded an honoraryMaster of Arts degree fromCambridge University in 1629.[38]
Rubens was in Madrid for eight months in 1628 to 1629. In addition to diplomatic negotiations, he executed several important works for Philip IV and private patrons. He also began a renewed study of Titian's paintings, copying numerous works including the MadridFall of Man (1628–29).[39] During this stay, he befriended the court painterDiego Velázquez and the two planned to travel to Italy together the following year. Rubens, however, returned to Antwerp and Velázquez made the journey without him.[40]
His stay in Antwerp was brief, and he soon travelled on to London where he remained until April 1630. An important work from this period is theAllegory of Peace and War (1629;National Gallery, London).[41] It illustrates the artist's lively concern for peace, and was given to Charles I as a gift.
While Rubens's international reputation with collectors and nobility abroad continued to grow during this decade, he and his workshop also continued to paint monumental paintings for local patrons in Antwerp. TheAssumption of the Virgin Mary (1625–26) for the Cathedral of Antwerp is one prominent example.
Rubens's last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. Major works for foreign patrons still occupied him, such as the ceiling paintings forInigo Jones'sBanqueting House at thePalace of Whitehall, but he also explored more personal artistic directions.
In 1630, four years after the death of his first wife Isabella, the 53-year-old painter married the sister of her brother-in-law, the 16-year-oldHelena Fourment. Hélène inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s, includingThe Feast of Venus (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna),The Three Graces andThe Judgement of Paris (both Prado, Madrid). In the latter painting, which was made for the Spanish court, the artist's young wife was recognised by viewers in the figure ofVenus. In an intimate portrait of her,Helena Fourment in a Fur Wrap, also known asHet Pelsken, Rubens's wife is even partially modelled after classical sculptures of theVenus Pudica, such as theMedici Venus.
Rubens died from heart failure as a result of his chronicgout on May 30, 1640. He was interred inSaint James' Church, Antwerp. A burial chapel for the artist and his family was built in the church. Construction on the chapel started in 1642 and was completed in 1650, when Cornelis van Mildert (the son of Rubens's friend, the sculptorJohannes van Mildert) delivered the altarstone.
The chapel features a marble altar portico with two columns framing the altarpiece of theVirgin and child with Saints painted by Rubens himself. The painting expresses the basic tenets of the Counter-Reformation through the figures of the Virgin and saints. In the upper niche of the retable is a marble statue depicting the Virgin as the Mater Dolorosa, whose heart is pierced by a sword, which was likely sculpted byLucas Faydherbe, a pupil of Rubens. The remains of Rubens's second wife,Helena Fourment, and two of her children (one of whom was fathered by Rubens) were later also laid to rest in the chapel. Over the coming centuries about 80 descendants from the Rubens family were interred in the chapel.[42]
At the request ofcanon van Parijs, Rubens's epitaph, written in Latin by his friendGaspar Gevartius, was chiselled on the chapel floor. In the tradition of the Renaissance, Rubens is compared in the epitaph toApelles, the most famous painter of Greek Antiquity.[43][44]
Hercules as Heroic Virtue Overcoming Discord, 1632–33
His biblical and mythological nudes are especially well-known. Painted in the Baroque tradition of depicting women as soft-bodied, passive, and to the modern eye highly sexualised beings, his nudes emphasise the concepts of fertility, desire, physical beauty, temptation, and virtue. Skilfully rendered, these paintings of nude women are thought by feminists to have been created to sexually appeal to his largely male audience of patrons,[45] although the female nude as an example of beauty has been a traditional motif in European art for centuries. Rubens was quite fond of painting full-figured women, giving rise to terms like 'Rubensian' or 'Rubenesque' (sometimes 'Rubensesque'). His large-scale cycle representingMarie de' Medici focuses on several classic female archetypes like the virgin, consort, wife, widow, and diplomatic regent.[46] The inclusion of this iconography in his female portraits, along with his art depicting noblewomen of the day, serve to elevate his female portrait sitters to the status and importance of his male portrait sitters.[46]
Rubens's depiction of males is equally stylised, replete with meaning, and quite the opposite of his female subjects. His male nudes represent highly athletic and large mythical or biblical men. Unlike his female nudes, most of his male nudes are depicted partially nude, with sashes, armour, or shadows shielding them from being completely unclothed. These men are twisting, reaching, bending, and grasping: all of which portrays his male subjects engaged in a great deal of physical, sometimes aggressive, action. The concepts Rubens artistically represents illustrate the male as powerful, capable, forceful and compelling. The allegorical and symbolic subjects he painted reference the classic masculine tropes of athleticism, high achievement, valour in war, and civil authority.[47] Male archetypes readily found in Rubens's paintings include the hero, husband, father, civic leader, king, and the battle weary.
TheCrucifixion, painted for the Church ofSanta Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome, was imported to England in 1811. It was auctioned in 1812 and again in 1820 and 1821 but was lost at sea sometime after 1821.[51]
Equestrian Portrait of the Archduke Albert
Susannah and the Elders is now known only from engraving from 1620 by Lucas Vosterman.
Satyr, Nymph, Putti and Leopards is now known only from engraving.
Madonna of the Rosary painted for the Royal Chapel of the Dominican Church
Virgin Adorned with Flowers by Saint Anne, 1610 painted for the Church of the Carmelite Friars
Saint Job Triptych, 1613, painted for Saint Nicholas Church
Cambyses Appointing Otanes Judge,Judgment of Solomon, andLast Judgment, all for the Magistrates' Hall
In theCoudenberg Palace fire there were several works by Rubens destroyed, likeNativity (1731),Adoration of the Magi andPentecost.[52]
The paintingsNeptune and Amphitrite,Vision of Saint Hubert andDiana and Nymphs Surprised by Satyrs was destroyed in theFriedrichshain flak tower fire in 1945.[53]
The paintingThe Abduction of Proserpine was destroyed in the fire atBlenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 5 February 1861.[54]
The paintingCrucifixion with Mary, St. John, Magdalen, 1643 was destroyed in theEnglish Civil War by Parliamentarians in the Queen's Chapel, Somerset House, London, 1643[55]
The paintingEquestrian Portrait of Philip IV of Spain was destroyed in theRoyal Alcázar of Madrid fire in 1734. A copy is in the Uffizi Gallery.
The Continence of Scipio was destroyed in a fire in the Western Exchange, Old Bond Street, London, March 1836[56]
An alleged Rubens paintingPortrait of a Girl reported to have been in the collection ofAlexander Dumas was reported lost in a fire.[58]
The paintingEquestrian Portrait of the Duke of Buckingham (1625) and the ceiling paintingThe Duke of Buckingham Triumphing over Envy and Anger (c. 1625), both later owned by theEarl of Jersey atOsterley Park, were destroyed in a fire at the Le Gallais depository in St Helier, Jersey, on 30 September 1949.[59]
Portrait of Philip IV of Spain from 1628 was destroyed in the incendiary attack at theKunsthaus Zürich in 1985.[60]
^Giulio Girondi,Frans Geffels, Rubens and the Palazzi di Genova, pp. 183–199.
^Joost vander Auwera, Arnout Balis,Rubens: A Genius at Work : the Works of Peter Paul Rubens in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium Reconsidered, Lannoo Uitgeverij, 2007, p. 33.
^Byfield, Ted (2002).A Century of Giants, A.D. 1500 to 1600: In an Age of Spiritual Genius, Western Christendom Shatters. Christian History Project. p. 297.ISBN9780968987391.
^Sirjacobs, Raymond.Antwerpen Sint-Pauluskerk: Rubens En De Mysteries Van De Rozenkrans = Rubens Et Les Mystères Du Rosaire = Rubens and the Mysteries of the Rosary, Antwerpen: Sint-Paulusvrienden, 2004
^Rosen, Mark (2008). "The Medici Grand Duchy and Rubens' First Trip to Spain".Oud Holland.121 (2/3):147–152.doi:10.1163/187501708787335857.
^Cecilia Paolini, Philip and Peter Paul Rubens in Rome: newly discovered documents concerning their early careers, The Burlington Magazine, February 2019, pp. 120-127
^abHottle, Andrew D. (2004). "Commerce and Connections: Peter Paul Rubens and the Dedicated Print".Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek.55:54–85.doi:10.1163/22145966-90000105.
^Full text of the epitaph reads as follows: "D.O.M./PETRVS PAVLVS RVBENIVS eques/IOANNIS, huius urbis senatoris/flfius steini Toparcha:/qui inter cæteras quibus ad miraculum/excelluit doctrinæ historiæ priscæ/omniumq. bonarum artiu. et elegantiaru. dotes/ non sui tantum sæculi,/ sed et omnes ævi/ Appeles dicit meruit:/atque ad Regum Principumq. Virorum amicitias/gradum sibi fecit:/a. PHILIPPO IV. Hispaniarum Indiarumq. Rege / inter Sanctioris Concilli scribas Adscitus,/ et ad CAROLVM Magmnæ Brittaniæ Regem/Anno M.DC.XXIX. delegatus,/pacis inter eosdem principes mox initæ/fundamenta filiciter posuit./ Obiit anno sal. M.DC.XL.XXX. May ætatis LXIV.Hoc momumenteum a Clarissimo GEVARTIO/olim PETRO PAVLO RVBENIO consecratum/ a Posteris huc usque neglectum,/ Rubeniana stirpe Masculina jam inde extincta/ hoc anno M.DCC.LV. Poni Curavit./ R.D. JOANNES BAPT. JACOBVS DE PARYS. Hujus insignis Eccelsiæ Canonicus/ ex matre et avia Rubenia nepos./ R.I.P." ("In honor of the good and all-powerful God. Peter Paul Rubens, knight, son of Jan, alderman of this city and Lord of Steen, who, apart from his other talents, through which he excelled miraculously in the knowledge of (old) history and of all (useful) noble and beautiful arts, also deserved the glorious name of Apelles, of his time as of all centuries, and who gained the friendship of kings and princes, was elevated to the dignity of writer of the Secret Council; and was sent by Philip IV, King of Spain and the Indies, as his envoy to Charles, King of Great Britain, in 1629, (fortunately) laid the foundations for peace, which was soon made between the two monarchs. He died in the year of the Lord 1640, 30 May, at the age of 64. May he rest in peace")
^Markowitz, Sally (Spring 1995). "Review of Nead, Lynda,The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity, and Sexuality".The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.53 (2):216–218.JSTOR431556.
^abCohen, Sarah R. (2003). "Rubens's France: Gender and Personification in the Marie de Médicis Cycle".The Art Bulletin.85 (3):490–522.doi:10.2307/3177384.JSTOR3177384.
Auwers, Michael,Pieter Paul Rubens als diplomatiek debutant. Het verhaal van een ambitieus politiek agent in de vroege zeventiende eeuw, in: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis – 123e jaargang, nummer 1, p. 20–33(in Dutch)
Evers, Hans Gerhard:Peter Paul Rubens. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1942, 528 pages, 272 images, 4 color plates (Flemish edition at De Sikkel, Antwerp 1946).(Information on the book and download link)
Held, Julius S. (1975) "On the Date and Function of Some Allegorical Sketches by Rubens." In:Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. Vol. 38: 218–233.
Held, Julius S. (1983) "Thoughts on Rubens' Beginnings." In:Ringling Museum of Art Journal: 14–35.ISBN0-916758-12-5.
Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard. An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonne of the Work of Peter Paul Rubens Based on the Material Assembled by the Late Dr. Ludwig Burchard in Twenty-Seven Parts, Edited by the Nationaal Centrum Voor de Plastische Kunsten Van de XVI en de XVII Eeuw.
Lilar, Suzanne,Le Couple (1963), Paris, Grasset; Reedited 1970, Bernard Grasset Coll. Diamant, 1972, Livre de Poche; 1982, Brussels, Les Éperonniers,ISBN2-87132-193-0; Translated asAspects of Love in Western Society in 1965, by and with a foreword by Jonathan Griffin, New York, McGraw-Hill, LC 65-19851.
Sauerlander, Willibald.The Catholic Rubens: Saints and Martyrs (Getty Research Institute; 2014); 311 pages; looks at his altarpieces in the context of the Counter-Reformation.
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