Tribute to Rubens - 385th Anniversary of His Death on May 30

Peter Paul Rubens was born on June 28, 1577, in Siegen, Westphalia, and died on May 30, 1640, in Antwerp. Born into a wealthy Protestant family, the young Rubens pursued prestigious studies that initially destined him to become a lawyer. He ultimately chose to pursue a career in painting. His father, Jan Rubens (1530-1587), was himself a lawyer, while his mother, Maria Pypelinckx (1537-1608), was the daughter of a tapestry merchant. 

Peter Paul Rubens grew up in the context of the Counter-Reformation. His Protestant parents were forced to take refuge near Cologne and convert to Christianity to escape persecution in the Spanish Netherlands. 

The Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation, or Catholic Reformation, was a reaction to the Protestant Reformation.

The Protestant Reformation was initiated in the early 16th century by Martin Luther and then John Calvin. The Roman Catholic Church was under pressure at the time. Luther and Calvin criticized the excesses of the Catholic Church, particularly with regard to its overly rich artistic heritage. In the Protestant countries, the seven Northern United Provinces (Holland, Zeeland, Gelderland, Utrecht, Friesland, Overijssel, and Groningen), the decorations were simple and understated. In his 95 Theses, published in 1517, Martin Luther rejected the cult of images and relics. He also protested against the trade in indulgences, in which pilgrims paid for "a ticket to paradise." During this period, Europe witnessed the destruction of sacred images, especially holy images. In Protestantism, the cult of saints was considered an obstacle to a direct relationship with God.

This had an impact on the subjects and artistic patronage. The preferred genres following the Protestant Reformation were portraiture, landscape, historical and mythological scenes, still lifes, animal paintings, and especially genre scenes, for which painters such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Frans Hals are particularly renowned. 

Thus, the Counter-Reformation was led by the Roman Church. The latter implemented a theological response. It conceived missionary orders and inquisitions with the aim of evangelizing new and distant territories such as China, Japan, and North America. In 1542, the Inquisitional Tribunal, or the Holy Office (burning of heretics), was reestablished. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum (list of prohibited works) was created in 1559.

In order to restore the authority of the Catholic Church, the Council of Trent was established between 1545 and 1563. It contained 15 sessions, the last of which, in 1563, was dedicated to the question of images. A creative frenzy was born from the Counter-Reformation. Religious images then took on two functions: to move the faithful through figures of martyrs, the passions of the soul, and also to educate the faithful about the history of the Catholic Church.

Rubens was part of this post-Tridentine wave of limited creations.

Training and Influences 

Peter Paul Rubens began his apprenticeship in the studio of the landscape painter Tobias Verhaecht in 1591. In 1592, he entered the supervision of the portraitist Adam van Noot.  

The painter was already tackling epic and religious themes. In 1598, he enrolled as a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp to benefit from the privileges this guild offered.

Eager to study the Italian masterpieces of great masters such as Michelangelo, Buonarroti, Raphael Sanzio, Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. He traveled to Venice, Rome, and Mantua, where he settled. In Mantua, he came into contact with Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga, for whom he entered the service and spent most of his time in Italy there. This was the beginning of his life as a courtesan. 

The study of ancient works and Italian masters changed his style and way of working. 

In 1608, he returned permanently to Antwerp and opened a prosperous studio. He was appointed painter to Archduke Albert of Habsburg, Governor of Flanders, and to his wife Isabella Clara Eugenie in 1609. Rubens then became one of his most influential diplomatic advisors. 

Style and Technique 

Rubens quickly established himself as one of the most renowned artists in Europe. He developed a successful method for widely disseminating his works. He used engraving to reproduce his creations. Under his guidance, a school of engravers was formed. His collective then consisted of burinists, etchers, and wood engravers.  

The burinist uses a burin, a sharp tool to incise motifs into the material being worked. The etcher usually works on copper but can also use other media. He uses aqua fortis, a nitric acid that attacks copper.

His Italian experience gave rise to a significant contrast between light and shadow, accompanied by a striking theatricality. Inspired by Michelangelo, he depicted muscular and imposing bodies, as seen in the Sistine Chapel. In the 1610s, his style evolved toward lighter, more vivid colors. His figures reflect his study of ancient works, and their spatial arrangement becomes more balanced. Rubens is considered a pioneer of Baroque art, notably for his spatial conception but also for his application of sparkling light.

To make his figures appear more authentic, the painter often worked from a live model, as was customary in Antwerp.

A Diplomatic Artist 

Rubens moved in aristocratic circles and officiated at numerous European courts. In Italy with the Duke of Gonzaga, then in France, England, Spain, and Austria.

In 1622, Marie de' Medici, widow of King Henry IV, commissioned the Marie de' Medici Cycle to decorate the Galerie Médicis at the Luxembourg Palace. The master completed the 24 works that comprise it in just four years. This work was inaugurated on the occasion of the marriage of Charles I of England with Henrietta Maria of France, daughter of Marie de' Medici, in the West Gallery of the Luxembourg Palace on May 11, 1625. 

He then painted portraits of Marie de' Medici and Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII, Marie de' Medici's son with King Henry IV. Both women are depicted in the same composition, dressed in black with a white ruff, with an impassive expression.

At the request of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenie, Rubens traveled to Madrid in 1628 for a diplomatic mission. His ambition was to restore peace between the United Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands. He frequented the famous painter Velázquez and painted numerous portraits for Philip IV of Spain. Following this, Rubens received a series of honorary titles. In 1629, the painter was appointed Secretary of the Council of Flanders by Philip IV of Spain. Then, upon the proclamation of peace between England and Spain on December 15, 1630, Peter Paul Rubens was knighted by Charles I of England, and the following year, he was knighted by Philip IV of Spain.

This period was also marked by the success of his private life, as a widower since 1626, the artist remarried in 1630 with the young Hélène Fourment.

From Craftsman to Artist 

Peter Paul Rubens succumbed to chronic gout on May 30, 1640, 385 years ago. He died in wealth and recognition. He was the most prolific of the Flemish painters, so much so that it is almost impossible to know the exact number of paintings, engravings, and drawings produced in his studio or by his own hand. One of his most famous students was Anthony van Dyck. 

Rubens embodies the contemporary movement toward recognition as an artist, not as a craftsman. In France, this movement flourished with the creation of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1648 and the transition to the status of Académie de la Corporation de Saint Luc in 1649, at the initiative of Simon Vouet (1590-1649).

A large portion of Rubens's works were listed in the Catalogues Raisonnés of John Smith and Voorhelm Schneevoogt. The apprenticeship and productions of the great Flemish master inspired many renowned painters such as Watteau and Delacroix and continue to inspire art lovers.

Want to find out more about Rubens? Watch our various documentary series on these themes on Museum TV and whenever you want, wherever you want, on our video-on-demand platform my.museumtv.art.