No other 17th-century European painter combined artistic talent, social and economic success and a high cultural level like Rubens. Though primarily a painter, he also made numerous designs for prints, tapestries, architecture, sculpture and decorative objects. His abundant work is strikingly versatile in its subject matter, including paintings on mythological, religious and historical subjects as
After studying with his father, painter Antoine Ranc, he moved to Paris in 1697 to complete his training with Hyacinthe Rigaud, and then continued as Rigaud's collaborator. He entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1703 and became an academician in portraiture there in 1707. His master's protection paved the way to a career at court and the possibility of painting various members o