In 1625, Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia commissioned Rubens to design a series of twenty tapestries for the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The subject was the Eucharist, a leading Catholic dogma that the infanta defended in her role as sovereign princess of the southern Netherlands. Rubens conceived the scenes like victory marches, as if the cloths were hanging from baroque archite
This panel is one of the models designed by Rubens for a series of tapestries on the life of the Consul Publius Decius(4th century BC). It offers an extremely eloquent depiction of this Roman hero’s moral example: following a prediction in a dream, he stoically sacrificed his own life in exchange for his people’s final victory over the Latins.
On a number of occasions, Peter Paul Rubens partially overpainted finished pictures. He did this to paintings by his own hand, such as Nymphs and Satyrs (P1666), which he retouched and enlarged twenty years after he first painted it. He also made changes to drawings and paintings by other artists that he owned. This painting is an example of such reworking, albeit in a radical mode that changed th
In 1625, Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia commissioned Rubens to design a series of twenty tapestries for the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The subject was the Eucharist, a leading Catholic dogma that the infanta defended in her role as sovereign princess of the southern Netherlands. Rubens conceived the scenes like victory marches, as if the cloths were hanging from baroque archite
In 1625, Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia commissioned Rubens to design a series of twenty tapestries for the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The subject was the Eucharist, a leading Catholic dogma that the infanta defended in her role as sovereign princess of the southern Netherlands. Rubens conceived the scenes like victory marches, as if the cloths were hanging from baroque archite
This is a free copy of Hans Holbein´s portrait of the Thomas More, the English humanist and statesman. He wears a cape with a fur collar and a magistrate´s cap. In his hands, he holds a paper alluding to his condition as an intellectual. Holbein was a favorite of Rubens, who copied his works on numerous occasions, especially at the beginning of his career. The present portrait was made in the sixt
The Virgin sits with the Christ Child in the midst of grandiose classical architecture. She is surrounded by numerous saints in various positions. Above her, some angels prepare to crown her as Queen of Heaven. This work was sometimes thought to be a representation of The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine, because of the strong presence of that saint, who is depicted kneeling before the Christ
As Homer tells it in The Iliad, Paris the shepherd, son of Priam, had to decide with of the three goddesses —Juno, Venus or Minerva— was the most beautiful, and give her the golden apple Mercury he had received from Mercury. On the left, Paris appears to be meditating, with the apple still in his hands. His attention is focused on Venus, in the middle of the composition. Minerva´s weapons are visi
In 1625, Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia commissioned Rubens to design a series of twenty tapestries for the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The subject was the Eucharist, a leading Catholic dogma that the infanta defended in her role as sovereign princess of the southern Netherlands. Rubens conceived the scenes like victory marches, as if the cloths were hanging from baroque archite
Jan Brueghel’s compositions with garlands surrounding holy figures were a reaction against Protestant ideas that refuted the cult of images. In the centre of the composition is a painted image of the Virgin, which hangs from the garland. The figures of Mary and the Christ Child were painted by Rubens.
According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, after several days’s searching for her daughter Proserpina, who had been abducted by Pluto, Ceres stopped at the house of Hecuba. There, the goddess was offered a jug of water, from which she drank greedily, provoking the laughter of the young Stellio, whom Ceres turned into a tiny lizard. This painting belonged to Rubens, a friend and admirer of Elsheimer.
This panel depicts seven saints who worked to safeguard and promote the Eucharist. On the left are Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine and Saint Gregory the Great. In the centre is Saint Clare of Assisi, who is given the features of the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia, Rubens’s patron who commissioned this series. The bareheaded Dominican Saint Thomas Aquinas asserts the doctrine of the Eucharist and its
In 1625, Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia commissioned Rubens to design a series of twenty tapestries for the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The subject was the Eucharist, a leading Catholic dogma that the infanta defended in her role as sovereign princess of the southern Netherlands. Rubens conceived the scenes like victory marches, as if the cloths were hanging from baroque archite
A group of figures dance to the tune of a flute played by a man perched on an oak tree, and to the bells that some dancers have attached to their lower legs. The scene evokes the dances that are part of Ancient Greek history and myths and the tradition that followed - the book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili includes a description and a woodcut of a similar dance. The painting also evokes the arcadian s
Rubens combines various subjects in this work. The figure of Saint Joseph sleeping in a landscape alongside a grazing donkey, and the Virgin Mary sitting on a boulder with her son refer to the rest on the Flight from Egypt, but the artist also added various images of saints to the left of the main group. These include Saint George and the dragon, and Saint Catherine, whose factions are those of H&
This egg-shaped tray has scrolls and animal heads at the axes. It depicts various episodes of the myth of Psyche and Cupid, as told by Apuleius in The Golden Ass. These scenes occupy the outer part of the tray. The center has the wedding feast, attended by the Olympian gods. The artist based his drawing of groups on the compositions of Venetian prints, although the results clearly owe much to Raph