Jessica

= Peter Paul Rubens =







History:

Rubens was born June 28, 1577 in Siegen, Westphalia and ten years later returned to Antwerp after his father's death. He apprenticed to several painters and became a master painter in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1598. He went to Venice and fell under the influence of Titian; many Italian influences are seen in Ruben's work. Rubens returned to Antwerp after the death of his mother and became the greatest artistic figure in the country by the year 1608. In 1609 he married Isabella Brant, who then died in 1626. He traveled to Spain in 1628 and returned back to Antwerp in 1630, at age 53, when he married 16-year-old Helen Fourment. On May 30, 1640 he died of gout, an arthritic disease, at the age of 63 and the height of his power and popularity.





Powerpoint:



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Powerpoint Notes:

Slide 1: RUBENS HISTORY Slide 2: Mythology Title  Slide 3: Ganymede and the Eagle (1611-1612) - Ovid: Jupiter was infatuated with the young shepherd boy that he assumed the disguise of an eagle and swooped down and to took him to Mount Olympus where Ganymede became the cupbearer to the Gods - Aeneid: Jupiter sent his eagle to kidnap the boy - Traditionally depicted as a struggle between animal and human - The homoerotic escapade was neutralized and allegorized by Christian commentators as the ravishment of the human soul by God and its ecstatic ascent into heavenly bliss - No struggle/no frenzy - Boy rests comfortably on the wing of the eagle and mirrors the posture of the bird - Reaches up to the cup of Hebe which holds the nectar of eternal youth - In top left hand corner there is a heterosexual banquet (telescopic perspective) - Willing participant in his heavenward flight, embraces the eagle Slide 4: The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus (1618) - Castor and Pollux were known as the calmers of the sea and horse tamers - Found on an ancient sarcophagi as an allegory of the soul’s salvation - Tour de force: exploitation of multiple viewpoints - Geometric coordination of opposites - Contrasting hues of male and female flesh are mirrored against the red and gold drapery and dark and light horses - Girls were Phoebe and Hilaeria-raised heavenwards - Cupid holding the reigns symbolizes that Castor and Pollux married the princesses and were model husbands; brute passion is bridled, lust has been reined in by Love - 2/3 of backdrop is given to the sky; undulating hills and plains, deep foliage and shadows - Ecstatic dance rather than a violent abduction Slide 5: Venus and Adonis (1635) - Rubens copied all of the Titians in the royal collection while in Madrid - Lovers impassioned parting as Venus vainly seeks to dissuade the young huntsman from his fatal pursuit - Venus fell in love with the handsome mortal by accidentally being grazed by one of Cupid’s arrows, took up hunting with him except he could not hunt wild animals - Adonis was gored to death by a wild boar, Venus turned him into a flower the color of blood “anemone” - Sitting gracefully on a rock covered by conveniently discarded drapery as she caresses his back - Hellenistic sculpture incarnate (Adonis) is silhouetted against luminous sky - Cupid grabs his leg – reminder of the start of the affair - Thrill of chase, not love, which dominates; hunting dogs are double passion - Divided between the secure right half (rocks/trees) and the left open unprotected expanse - Adonis becomes part of the natural background, a foreshadow of what is to happen Slide 6: The Judgment of Paris 1 (1600-1601) - Trojan War began with a beauty contest, with the prize of a golden apple - Aphrodite (Venus), Hera (Juno), Athena (Minerva) - Paris of Troy was to be the judge, gave the apple to Venus and he was granted Helen - Two woodland satyrs and a nymph and an ancient river god - Rippling musculature mimics the water in the urn/river - Explosion of golden light surrounding putti - Chiaroscuro of Caravaggio on left and right, lighted in middle - The boundary between earth and heavens is dissolved in light Slide 7: The Judgment of Paris 2 (1635-1638) - “will it be enough to judge them as they are—or should they be naked” Paris - Divine disrobing - Originally Minerva and Venus were assisted by putti in removed their clothes as the satyrs peered through the foliage - Mercury’s arm pointed forward and Paris’ arm was extended, the golden apple was on his left wrist, he wore a hat and shirt covered both shoulders - Transformed the putti into a Cupid - Shifted the dramatic focus from the goddesses’ disrobing and the lineup to the actual decision - Venus resembles Helena Fourment - Juno’s peacock hisses at Paris’ dog and Minerva stand with her shield/medusa - Psychological rather than physical, the outcome is conveyed far more by facial expression and gesture - Replaced by painterly forms rather than sculptural figures, the background is transformed into an Italian pastorale rather than the Flemish landscape of cool colors - Paris is an idealized young shepherd awestruck by beauty, Mercury in wonder - Fiery personification bearing torch and serpent emerges from storm clouds mirroring the face of the medusa on the shield, Fury Alecto - Mellow overture to war, contrasted against the lush background - Undiminished power to breathe new life to ancient forms

Slide 8: Biblical Title  Slide 9: Samson and Delilah (1609) - Italianate influences mixed with Flemish heritage - Sampson is asleep on Delilah’s knees “in her bosom” - Calls barber to cut the “seven locks of head” - The philistines prepare to capture the helpless hero - Lit by a brazier at far left, candle by old woman, oil lamp in statue before niche, torch carried by Philistine - Invisible source of light - Chiaroscuro conjures shades of Caravaggio - Intimate setting belying impending violence - Passivity, her hand resting tenderly on Samson’s back shows her attachment rather than indifference - Like a pieta configuration, sleeping giant suggest the self-sacrificial story of him pulling them temple down on him and the Philistines - Psychological overtones reverberate

Slide 10: The Descent from the Cross (1611-1614) - Gradual compositional descent to the right, effective counterpoint to the central leftward lowering of the dead Christ on a sheet of whiteness - Visitation LEFT = Virgin carries Christ in her womb as she visits her cousin Elizabeth, - Presentation in the Temple RIGHT = Simeon holds the child Christ as Mary raises her arms to receive him

Slide 11: Madonna and Child with Garland and Putti (1618-1620) - Painted with Jan Brueghel (influenced only by Flemish rather than Rubens Italian influences) - Mary displays infant son, wreath is hung around them (Baroque floral extravaganza), eleven frolicking putti, holding a magnifying glass to nature rather than a mirror, painstaking naturalism - Tight brushwork, precise arrangement of flowers: roses, tulips, lilies, narcissi, peonies, daisies, irises, carnations, hollyhocks are punctuated by colors and sprig breaking out of the circle - Rubens interrupted naturalism with his fugue of putti - Painted a picture within a picture - Child has been identified with Rubens 2nd son - Incorporated Helena into his paintings before he met her (Mary) - Nature imitates art - Flemish flowers combined with Italianate putti; Baroque duet in harmony

Slide 12: Christ and the Penitent Sinners (1618-1620) - Mary Magdalene and St. Peter, with Good Thief and King David - S-curve of radiantly blond (tint of red) Mary Magdalene kneeling before Christ, Titianesque tresses - Christ is a Greek/Roman God (Apollo/Jupiter) - Red toga contrasting with the yellow-white garment of Magdalene - Magdalene is associated with a woman who has committed adultery, arms over breasts - Peter is closest to Jesus, weeping, hands clasped, reenacts his repentance - Background symbolizes his promise to him “you are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my church” - Far left holding a cross is the Good Thief, to whom Jesus promised a place in Paradise - David with the crown, is the king and penitent adulterer - Noli Me tangere - Figure of Christ evolved from a sculptural, polished Michaelangelo into a more fluid and painterly depiction - Emphasizes the receptive gesture of Christ rather than the act of penance - Heroic forms and sensuous surfaces are combined in affirmations of salvation

Slide 13: The Last Supper (1620) - Ceiling paintings for a house in Antwerp - The paintings were destroyed by a fire, and only his sketches on the panels are left over - Offers a view up a flight of steps into an upper room where the disciples and Jesus are - Chandelier illuminates the scene - Circular table rather than long - Focus on the institution of the sacrament rather than the dramatic announcement of the betrayal - Counter-Reformation thrust - St. Peter is isolated as first recipient of the sacrifice Slide 14: The Adoration of the Magi (1624) - Centripetal grouping around the Moorish king - S-curce from the camels - Virgin is rotated to face the front, displaying Christ - Association of nativity and death, incorporating the pieta - Straw (bread), ox (sacrifice) and wooden crate with white cloth (altar) suggest the Eucharistic sacrifice of Mass - May find the scene overcrowded but if asked, who would you eliminate

Slide 15: Portraits Title  Slide 16: Portrait of a Young Man (1597) - Earliest dated work - Man was 26 years old, unknown profession - Right hand resting on ledge, holds a square and dividers (architect/geographer) - Gold oval is held by a thin red cord (astronomer/navigator/watch) - Vanitas- skull/timepiece to remind of mortality and transience of youth - Almost translucent hands and blue veins - White accents in neck and brocade are juxtaposed with the somber black jacket and background - Psychological engagement between subject and viewer

Slide 17: The Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria (1606) - Genoa was ruled by an oligarchy of intermarrying families, among whom he established a relationship and connection - Originally full length, was trimmed off during the 19th century - 22 year old model - Shown having passed through the door onto the terrace of her villa rather than stiff/posed - Originally visible were the balustrade, landscape and open sky - Framed in a dark portal, ionic columns, fluted pilaster - Bright highlights of silver-gold brocaded satin gown, delicate fan, fluttering red drapery, bejeweled coiffure, stiff neck ruff - Renaissance Madonna - Preferred to paint women either seated or half-length - Reverted to the portrait of his young wife Helena Fourment standing

Slide 18: Rubens and Isabella Brant Under a Honeysuckle Bower (1609-1610) - Isabella was a daughter of a lawyer and city alderman - Seated before a honeysuckle bower (romantic love), Shakespeare’s //Midnight Summer’s Dream// - Joined right hands, marital harmony and accord - Dressed himself as a prosperous gentleman, hand upon a bejeweled sword - Places himself higher than the woman, feminine humility - Gold-trimmed silks and satins bring out the honeysuckle - Sun glowing through the bower - Brushwork in lace neck ruff and cuffs (Marchesa) - Rubens leans protectively towards Isabella - Parenthetical oval - 17 year marriage, never painted the couple again together but used it as a model

Slide 19: Justus Lipsius and His Pupils “The Four Philosophers” (1611-1614) - Attracted to Neo-Stoic philosophy - Included himself in a communion of master and disciples - Lipsius sits at a table with feathers and quills and books - Symbolically reinforced by column behind him - Jan van den Wouwer sits at his right - Scottish dog, Mopsus, went to meetings, faithfulness/learning - Philip Rubens has a raised right hand holding a pen (secretary of Antwerp) - Rubens is standing with a gloved hand - Two groups of tulips, two opened, two closed, mimicking the group (Lipsius and Rubens were dead) - Vine signifies the enduring affection after death - Seneca bust - Involvement in the world of books - Symbolic of the sacramental meal, but they are instead feasting upon literature

Slide 20: Portrait of Susanna Fourment “Le Chapeau de Paille” (1622-1625) - “The Straw Hat” – misnomer, actually made of beaver - Third daughter of Daniel Fourment, Susanna, was the sister in law of Ruben’s first wife Isabella Brant (Susanna’s brother Daniel had married Isabella’s sister Clara) - Rubens married her younger sister Helena - Legend that she had been his mistress, four portraits of her were found - Marriage ring - Holding a grey shawl, black dress and open chemise - The painting was expanded twice, with strips of wood added to the sides - Sunlight streaks across her face, hat shades her face, is illuminated by reflective light - Flesh tone and pigments, crimson hues of shirt sleeves reflected in her face - Glow of skin, pendant pearls emerge from the back

Slide 21: Albert and Nicolaas Rubens (1625) - Children portraits were rare in Rubens’ work - Had 7 children - Miniature adults, poised and precocious were usually portrayed but he was able to convey the lively, spontaneous impression of childhood while also suggesting anticipation of adulthood - Contrast in dress and faces distinguishes the ages of the boys - Albert is leaning against a stone column, legs crossed, holding a book and a fur gloce, black suit/hat with white accentuate head and hand - Casualness of his pose, confidently looking at the viewer - Nicolaas is dressed in bright blue, tan breeches, and orange bows reflecting the colors of the goldfinch he hold on a string and looks at reflectively - Prefiguration of the passion – goldfinch - Bird – passage of youth, pensive - Nicolaas (business man) died at age 37 and Albert (archeologist) at 43 Slide 22: Helena Fourment with Clara Johanna and Frans (1636) - Frans was painted on mother’s lap and is accompanied by his elder sister Clara - Aristocratic formulas of portraiture and intimate seemingly spontaneous glimpses of the home - Unfinished background contributes to freshness and informality - Enough is sketched to reveal an outdoor setting - Helena’s chair seated in front of a massive marble column and a splash of red drapery recalls many of his other portraits - Clara grabs her mother’s skirt, Frans looks out to the viewer - Maternal pensiveness, secular Madonna and child - Preparatory chalk drawing where the daughter Isabella was going to be placed in - Faint outline of a dog curled up on the ground (marriage/fidelity) - Domestic happiness

Slide 23: Self-Portrait (1638-1640) - Confidently presented himself in paint, as a man of the world, wearing a hat - Standing beside a stone column, aristocratic portraiture - Bare left hand rests on hilt of his sword, gloved hand holds other glove, gazes toward the viewer - The gloved hand emphasizes the hand holding the sword, given to him by Charles I when knighted - Did not use self-portraiture as introspection, meant for the public, taken at face value

Slide 24: Landscapes Title**  Slide 25: The Battle of the Amazons and Greeks (1616-1618) - Made beautiful animals - Exotic, set in far lands with Arabs and Africans joining the fray - Animals were nature and art, based on Renaissance as well as life studies in the Brussels zoo\ - Battle between man and beast - Diagonals: swords, spears, daggers converge at the center as if drawn by a force - Man dressed in Roman garb - Infused hunting scenes with noble heroism by pitting man against beast on equal footing Slide 26: Landscape with Philemon and Baucis (1625) - Pious old couple showing hospitality to Jupiter and Mercury who appeared in human form - Couple were spared from the flood, struggling up the slope and saw the flood of the land - Inherent power and tension as the viewer’s eye travels from foreground to background against the full force of the current, tracing the flood, impossible water levels, down to the source of the downpour from storm clouds and flaming bolts - Added panels to the top and bottom, making the storm huge - Trees are uprooted, houses swept away, man seeks refuge on a rock, ox is impaled on a tree trunk, two dead bodies suggest human wreckage - Left side descend into deluge and death, and the right side rises onto higher ground (geographically and morally) - Holds a bow (rainbow) left corner - Prayed they would live in Jupiter’s temple, and die together - Two trees intertwined were like their story Slide 27: The Garden of Love (1630-1632) - Idyllic landscape, architectural candences, sculptural counterpoints, descant of putti - Garden party with his newly married wife/Neoplatonic allegory of love, (sensual, earthly and celestial) - Sculptured goddess venus astride a dolphin, breasts functioning as fountains - Cupid, son, standing at the opposite end of the composition - Similar to Ruben’s house - Statue of the three graces in a fountain - Flying cupids signify nature of celebrated love - Flaming torch, doves, floral crown and yoke are all marriage symbols - Dog and peacock - Celebrated his recent marriage allegorically - Ephemeral nature of love and happiness - Optimism, joie de vivre, vitality (representing himself with his 16 year old bride) Slide 28: The Kermesse (1630-1635) - Descending from the left in strong diagonal accelerating rhythms toward the open vista and raised horizon on the right - Robust and raucous peasants are caricatures, but not crude - Teeming energy, earthy passion - Dancing wildly to the music, drinking beer, partying Slide 29: Landscape with Het Steen (1636) - Highlights of the early morning sun - Minutely includes himself and Helena promenading under the tree - Rural and domestic stability of country life - Huntsman and dog stalking a partridge - Partridges out of scale of surrounding bridges and trees - High placement of horizon, maximizes sense of lush, rolling terrain Slide 30: The Horrors of War (1637) - Quest for peace in Flanders - Allegorical expression of his beliefs of war on a canvas - Mars left the open temple of Janus (in peace it was closed) and rushes forth with shield and sword, threatening the people - Paying not attention to Venus and her cherubs - Fury Alecto pulls Mars forward, Pestilence and Famine - Saying that war destroys everything - Destruction of all intellect or literature/reason - Woman in black represents unfortunate Europe - Most painterly and broad-brushwork