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Diana the huntress is resting with her court of Nymphs in a clearing in the woods when she is attacked by a group of Satyrs. Rubens turned this painting into a virtuoso exercise in composition. In the [+]
Two pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem meet a traveler, whom the invite to dinner. When their unknown guest blesses the bread on the table, they recognize that he is Christ resurrected. This story is [+]
According to Hesiod’s Theogony, there were three Graces: Aglaia, which means radiance; Euphrosine, which means joy; and Thalia, which means flowering. Born of one of Zeus’s affairs, the three Graces w [+]
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 [+]
The scene depicted in this painting relates to two stories told by the Roman poet Ovid. In Fasti (V, 121-24), he writes about a goat that suckled the infant Jupiter, who lost one of the lofty horns th [+]
The Roman poet Ovid, in his book Metamorphosis (III, 401-532), tells the story of Diana and the nymph Callisto. Zeus was attracted to the nymph and took the form of Diana to seduce and rape her. Diana [+]
A posthumous portrait of Felipe II wearing full body armor, a cape and a hat and riding a horse. Victory crowns him with laurels. The background alludes to a battle, probably that of San Quentí [+]
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 [+]
Felipe III´s daughter, Anne of Austria, married young Louis XIII in 1615. She is depicted wearing black, French-style clothing, seated under a green canopy that is embroidered with fleurs de lis from [+]
As punishment for the vanity of Cassiopeia, who thought herself more beautiful than the Neriads, Poseidon, god of the seas, sent a monster to the kingdom of Ethiopia. Its fury could only be detained i [+]
This scene from a court feast takes place in a relaxed atmosphere in which a group of persons flirt in an idyllic garden. The cupids around the group carry symbols of conjugal love, including a pair o [+]
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 ha [+]
Rape of Europa is a faithful copy made by Peter Paul Rubens in Madrid after an original by Titian. It shows the Phoenician princess Europa after she was abducted by Zeus, who had taken on the form of [+]
As Ovid tells in his Metamorphosis (book VIII, 260-444), the goddess Diana sent a giant wild boar to ravage the kingdom of Calydon. The king´s son, Meleager, and his beloved Atalanta organize a hunt w [+]
According to Jacopo de la Voragine´s Golden Legend, Saint George slew the dragon that was terrorizing the people of Silene, saving a princess in peril. In this painting, the Christian hero rides a liv [+]
A group of peasants dance in agitated frenzy, accompanied by a flutist in a tree. The scene takes place in a landscape that recalls Italy, especially the villa in the background, whose shapes resemble [+]
Rubens painted this scene for Philip IV of Spain. It shows Hercules fighting with the dragon which guarded the Garden of Hesperides, to where the hero had travelled in search of the golden apples that [+]
