"Rubens as an interpreter of the mythological tradition", delivered by Nils Büttner (Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart) on 20 December 2022. Part of the Francisco Calvo Serraller "Peter Paul Rubens" lecture series, organized by the "Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado".

"Peter Paul Rubens"
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) is an imposing figure who invites hyperbole. The creator of an extraordinarily extensive oeuvre, he was the most celebrated painter of his age in Europe. Although he worked primarily in Antwerp, he spent significant periods in Italy and received commissions from the courts of Spain, France, and England, as well as from other princes and leading figures. Fluent in at least five languages, Rubens was also a profound student of classical culture, which he regarded as a golden age of the past and about which he wrote extensively. These qualities led him to serve as a diplomat in the employ of the Spanish monarchy. His correspondence reveals that he understood this diplomatic work as a quest for peace in Europe and, moreover, it allows us to glimpse a personality in which a stoic disposition is paradoxically united with an epicurean sensibility.

Rubens’ art is deeply rooted in Greek and Roman sculpture and in the painting of the High Renaissance, whose legacy he extended. Drawing on these models, his work conveys an exalted vision of life and of the world, imbued with vitality and feeling.

This lecture series seeks to offer a comprehensive and nuanced perspective that does justice to this remarkable artist.

See with simultaneous translation into Spanish