1.
Peter Paul Rubens
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Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish/Netherlandish draughtsman and painter. He is widely considered as the most notable artist of Flemish Baroque art school, the catalogue of his works by Michael Jaffé lists 1,403 pieces, excluding numerous copies made in his workshop. His commissioned works were mostly history paintings, which included religious and mythological subjects and he painted portraits, especially of friends, and self-portraits, and in later life painted several landscapes. Rubens designed tapestries and prints, as well as his own house and he also oversaw the ephemeral decorations of the royal entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635. His drawings are mostly extremely forceful but not overly detailed and he also made great use of oil sketches as preparatory studies. For altarpieces he painted on slate to reduce reflection problems. Rubens was born in the city of Siegen to Jan Rubens and he was named in honour of Saint-Peter and Paul, because he was born on their solemnety. His father, a Calvinist, and mother fled Antwerp for Cologne in 1568, after increased religious turmoil and persecution of Protestants during the rule of the Spanish Netherlands by the Duke of Alba. Jan Rubens became the adviser of Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange. Following Jan Rubens imprisonment for the affair, Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577, the family returned to Cologne the next year. In 1589, two years after his fathers death, Rubens moved with his mother Maria Pypelincks to Antwerp, religion figured prominently in much of his work and Rubens later became one of the leading voices of the Catholic Counter-Reformation style of painting. In Antwerp, Rubens received a Renaissance humanist education, studying Latin, by fourteen he began his artistic apprenticeship with Tobias Verhaeght. Subsequently, he studied under two of the leading painters of the time, the late Mannerist artists Adam van Noort. Much of his earliest training involved copying earlier works, such as woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger. Rubens completed his education in 1598, at time he entered the Guild of St. Luke as an independent master. In 1600 Rubens travelled to Italy and he stopped first in Venice, where he saw paintings by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, before settling in Mantua at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The colouring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an effect on Rubenss painting. With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled to Rome by way of Florence in 1601, there, he studied classical Greek and Roman art and copied works of the Italian masters
2.
Alte Pinakothek
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The Alte Pinakothek is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings, the name Alte Pinakothek refers to the time period covered by the collection—from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. The Neue Pinakothek covers nineteenth-century art, and the recently opened Pinakothek der Moderne exhibits modern art, all three galleries are part of the Bavarian State Picture Collection, an organization of the Free state of Bavaria. King Ludwig I of Bavaria ordered Leo von Klenze to erect a new building for the gallery for the Wittelsbach collection in 1826, even the neo-renaissance exterior of the Pinakothek clearly stands out from the castle-like museum type usual in the early 19th Century. It is closely associated with the function and structure of the building as a museum, the museum galleries were designed to display Rubenss Last Judgment, one of the largest canvasses ever painted. The museum building was damaged by bombing in World War II but was reconstructed and reopened to the public in the late 1950s. The ornate, pre-war interior including the large loggia facing the south façade in the floor were not restored. A new wall covering was created in 2008 for the rooms on the floor of the Alte Pinakothek with a woven. The new color scheme of green and red draws on the design of the rooms, Elector Maximilian I commissioned in 1616 four hunt paintings from Peter Paul Rubens and acquired many other paintings, especially the work of Albrecht Dürer. He even obtained The Four Apostles in the year 1627 due to pressure on the Nuremberg city fathers, a few years later however 21 paintings were confiscated and moved to Sweden during the occupation of Munich in the Thirty Years war. Maximilians grandson Maximilian II Emanuel purchased a number of Dutch. Under Max Emanuels successors, the purchases were discontinued due to the tight budget. Also Max Emanuels cousin Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine collected Netherlandish paintings and he ordered from Peter Paul Rubens the The Big Last Judgment and received Raphaels Canigiani Holy Family as a dowry of his wife. Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria had a preference for Netherlandish paintings as well. By the late 18th century a number of the paintings were already displayed in Schleissheim Palace. Even though 72 paintings including The Battle of Alexander at Issus were taken to Paris in 1800 by the armies of Napoleon I. The Louvre held it until 1804, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France, when the Prussians captured the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1814 as part of the War of the Sixth Coalition, they supposedly found the painting hanging in Napoleons bathroom. Most of the paintings have not been returned, with the secularisation many paintings from churches and former monasteries entered into state hands
3.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
4.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
5.
Leda and the Swan (Peter Paul Rubens)
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Peter Paul Rubens was a well known artist during the Baroque era. He completed hundreds of works in various mediums—many were famous at the time, but there are also many works of art that people don’t know much about. One of these works is his painting Leda and the Swan and he painted two versions of this subject. The first was completed in 1601 and the second was completed in 1602, Rubens was heavily influenced by Michelangelo. He was introduced to his work on his journey to Italy, Rubens decided to go to Rome to make copies of paintings and further his studies of Italian art from the leading Italian artists of the previous century, later termed the Renaissance. In Rome, he encountered Michelangelo’s version of Leda and the Swan, even though Michelangelo’s version does not exist today, copies of it do. A copy of Michelangelo’s original work was done by Rubens, Rubens would have been familiar with Michelangelo’s Leda. His version is considered a prototype for Rubens’s two works, Rubens’s 1601 Leda, was modeled after Michelangelo’s Leda. The placement of the body is similar as is its twisting posture. Even the positioning of the fingers is mirrored, the swan is caressing the female in exactly the same way. The actual figure of the female varies drastically between Rubens’s style and Michelangelo’s style, Michelangelo typically depicted women in a masculine way. Muscles are more defined and the bodies look hard. Michelangelo’s body proportions are a little skewed, Rubens’s women, on the other hand, are extremely curvaceous and are much softer. The hair is loose and not as styled. The body proportions seem more realistic in Rubens’s two works, though Rubens’s two works are very similar, they do differ. In his first depiction, the brushstrokes are looser, it is not as detailed, there is less landscape, no elaborate headpiece, the colors are muted, and the drapes are green. The 1601 painting was supposed to be in a painted ellipse that cut off the left elbow. Today it is in a rectangular format along with the 1602 painting, a common Renaissance and Baroque theme is females that are abducted or seduced by divinities
6.
Heraclitus and Democritus (Rubens)
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Heraclitus and Democritus is a 1603 painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. It is now held in the National Sculpture Museum in Valladolid and it shows the ancient Greek philosophers Heraclitus and Democritus. Rubens produced the work as a commission for Francisco Gómez de Sandoval Rojas y Borja and it passed through several collections, ending up in that of the Syrian oil magnate Akram Ojjeh. After Ojjehs death, it was sold to the Spanish Ministry of Culture for 175,000,000 pesetas in December 1999 via Christies of London
7.
Virgin and Child (Rubens)
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The Virgin and Child is a painting by Rubens, commissioned in 1604 and completed between 1608 and 1621. It was seized by France in 1803 and is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts Tours and it was commissioned by Anne Antheunis, widow of Alexander I Goubau, grand almoner of Antwerp, shortly after her husbands death. She intended is as an ex voto for their joint funeral monument, then in Italy, Rubens only began the work on his return to Flanders in 1608, including a posthumous portrait of Alexandre-Jean and one of Anne from life. It was complete by 1621, the date of Annes death
8.
The Fall of Phaeton (Rubens)
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The Fall of Phaeton is a painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, featuring the ancient Greek myth of Phaeton, a recurring theme in visual arts. Rubens chose to depict the myth at the height of its action, the thunderbolts provide the light contrast to facilitate the display of horror on the faces of Phaeton, the horses and other figures while preserving the darkness of the event. The butterfly winged female figures represent the hours and seasons, who react in terror as the night, the great astrological circle that arches the heavens is also disrupted. The assemblage of bodies form an oval in the center, separating dark. The bodies are arranged so as to assist the viewer’s travel continually around that oval, Rubens painted The Fall of Phaeton in Rome and the painting was probably reworked later around 1606/1608. It has been housed in the National Gallery of Art since 5 January 1990, Rubens also painted other Greek mythological subjects, such as The Fall of Icarus, Perseus Freeing Andromeda, and The Judgement of Paris
9.
The Circumcision (Rubens)
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The Circumcision is an oil on canvas painting of the Circumcision of Jesus by Peter Paul Rubens, produced in 1605 during his stay in Rome. It is now in the Chiesa del Gesù e dei Santi Ambrogio e Andrea church in Genoa and it was commissioned by Marcello Pallavicino, vestryman of the Casa Professa of Jesuits in Genoa. It is mainly influenced by Mantuan paintings from the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga, G. Bertelli, G. Briganti, A. Giuliano, Storia dellArte Italiana, vol. 3, p.299, Roma 2009, Edizioni Scolastiche Bruno Mondadori
10.
Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria
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The Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria is an oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens, dating to 1606. It is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington and it was commissioned by Marquess Giacomo Massimiliano Doria, of Genoa, and shows his wife shortly after their wedding in 1605, she came from the equally prominent Spinola family. He died in 1613 and she remarried another Doria and it has been cut several times on each side, removing the garden shown in the background and the lower part of the figure. The overall dimensions of the painting are now 152 by 98 centimetres after the original was reduced in size during the 19th century. Rubens completed a pen and brown ink study for the painting, details removed include the bottom of the Marchesas floor-length wedding gown as the painting has been cut just below her knees and the architecture that formed the backdrop. Writing in The Burlington Magazine in 1951, Christopher Norris indicated the sketch portrayed an older than the 22-year-old Marchesa. In the painting the Marchesa is placed in an opulent setting to convey luxury, adorned with jewels, she wears a satin and lace dress with a broad ruff round her neck. Light is used to emphasise the draping of her wedding gown. It subsequently became the property of Marchessa Brigida Spinola-Dorias second husband, probably in 1625 and it remained in the family until given to relatives of Rati Opizzone. By 1848 it was held in Paris by Simon Horsín-Déon, four years later, in 1854, the portrait was in London and sold several times before being purchased by the Samuel H. Kress foundation in 1957 who donated it to the National Gallery of Art in 1961. First exhibited in 1952 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art when it was likely in the ownership of the Duveen Brothers, since 1961 it has regularly been featured in exhibitions
11.
Adoration of the Magi (Rubens, Madrid)
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For other treatments of this subject by the same artist, see Adoration of the Magi. The Adoration of the Magi is a painting by the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens and he first painted it in 1609 and later gave it a major reworking between 1628 and 1629 during his second trip to Spain. It is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid and it is one of many works on the subject by Rubens - others include those of 1616-17 and 1624. Towards the end of 1608 Antwerp was preparing to receive the peace delegates negotiating an end to the war between Spain and the Dutch Republic and their negotiations were to be held in Antwerp City Hall between 28 March and 9 April 1609 and resulted in the Twelve Years Truce. He had returned to Antwerp and was already the citys most notable painter and he was paid 1,800 florins for the commission. The theme of the commission was an allusion to the benefits the city hoped to gain from peace, there is also a study for the whole work in a private collection in London, which allows its original appearance to be reconstructed. The town magistrates presented the painting to Calderón, but in 1621 he fell into disgrace and was executed, in 1623 Philip IV of Spain purchased the painting from the sale of Calderóns collection and installed it in his Royal Alcázar of Madrid. In September 1628 Rubens travelled to Spain for the second time and he had been summoned there to inform the king about his peace negotiations with Britain, but was also able to rework the painting while he was there. Francisco Pacheco relates in his work El arte de la pintura changed some things in his painting of the Adoration of the Magi that was in the palace. This amounted to a complete re-working, with details modified, strips added to the top and right hand edges. It was later installed in the Royal Palace of Madrid and he went to the Museo del Prado. In 2004, the painting underwent a complete restoration, catalogue entry Article on the painting in the Enciclopedia online del Prado. The painting in the Prados online gallery, Article on the painting on the Centro Virtual Cervantes. The painting on the Prado website, El Siglo de Rubens en el Museo del Prado. Catálogo Razonado de Pintura Flamenca del Siglo XVII, barcelona / Madrid, Editorial Prensa Ibérica, S. A. / Museo Nacional del Prado. Museo del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Madrid, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura
12.
Samson and Delilah (Rubens)
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Samson and Delilah is a painting by the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens which is currently on display in the National Gallery. It dates from about 1609 to 1610, two preliminary copies of the painting also exist today, an ink and wash drawing on paper, and an oil sketch on wood panel. The oil sketch is currently on display in the Cincinnati Art Museum, the painting depicts an episode from the Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah. Samson was a Hebrew hero known for fighting the Philistines, having fallen in love with Delilah, who has been bribed by the Philistines, Samson tells her the secret of his great strength, his uncut hair. Without his strength, Samson is captured by the Philistines, Rubens portrays the moment when, having fallen asleep on Delilahs lap, a young man cuts Samsons hair. Samson and Delilah are in a room, which is lit mostly by a candle held by an old woman to Delilahs left. Delilah is depicted with all of her clothes, but with her breasts exposed and her left hand is on top of Samsons right shoulder, as his left arm is draped over her legs. The man snipping Samsons hair is crossing his hands, which is a sign of betrayal, philistine soldiers can be seen in the right-hand background of the painting. The niche behind Delilah contains a statue of the Venus, the Goddess of love, notably, Cupids mouth is bound, rather than his eyes. This statue can be taken to represent the cause of Samsons fate, the old woman standing behind Delilah, providing further light for the scene, does not appear in the biblical narrative of Samson and Delilah. She is believed to be a procuress, and the adjacent profiles of her and Delilah may symbolise the old womans past, the painting was originally commissioned by Nicolaas II Rockox, Lord mayor of Antwerp, Belgium, for his Rockox House. In addition to being a patron, Rockox was a personal friend of Rubens. The painting was intended to be placed above a 7-foot mantleshelf. The painting was sold for charity when Rockox died in 1640. In 1700, a panel named Samson and Delilah was bought by Prince Johann Adams Andreas I and this painting was likely Rubens painting. The painting was sold in 1880 in Paris, where it was later found by Ludwig Burchard in 1929. Eventually, the painting sold at auction in 1980 at Christies, purchased by the National Gallery, there has been some doubt cast over the attribution of the painting to Rubens, led by the artist and scholar of Fayum portraits Euphronsyne Doxiades. The painting was attributed to the Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst
13.
Honeysuckle Bower
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The Honeysuckle Bower is a self-portrait of the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant. They wed on 3 October 1609, in St. Michaels Abbey, Antwerp, the painting is a full-length double portrait of the couple seated in a bower of honeysuckle. They are surrounded by love and marriage symbolism, the honeysuckle, additionally, Rubens depicts himself as an aristocratic gentleman with his left hand on the hilt of his sword. Media related to Honeysuckle Bower by Peter Paul Rubens at Wikimedia Commons Web Gallery of Art
14.
Juno and Argus
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Juno and Argus is a 1610 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, showing Juno and Argus. It is now in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne,5, S.49 Ekkehard Mai, Mythologie in Bildern flämischer Meister, in, Kölner Museums-Bulletin 2000/3, S. 39–43, Abb.7 Robert Floetemeyer, Delacroix Bild des Menschen. Erkundungen vor dem Hintergrund der Kunst des Rubens, Mainz 1998, S. 142–144, Abbildung 40 Fiona Healy, Rubens, a question of choice, Brepols 1997, S.75, Abb. 98, S.283 Werner Telesko, Friedrich Schlegel und die Konzeption der Kunst als Reliquie der Göttlichen Offenbarung,40 Hans Vlieghe und Ekkehard Mai, Von Bruegel bis Rubens. Das goldene Jahrhundert der flämischen Malerei, Ausstellungskatalog Köln 1992, S.348, Farbabbildung S.349,44.5 Michael Jaffé, Catalogo completo Rubens, Milano 1989, mit Abbildung, Kat-Nr. 142 Ekkehard Mai, Flämische Malerei von 1550 bis 1650, = Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Köln,1, Köln 1987, S. 32–44, Farbabbildung 25 Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Köln, Von Stefan Lochner bis Paul Cézanne. Abbildung 135 H. G. Evers, Peter Paul Rubens, München 1942, S. 116–121, Abbildung 61
15.
The Elevation of the Cross (Rubens)
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The Elevation of the Cross is a triptych painting by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, completed in 1610-1611. Peter Paul Rubens painted The Elevation of the Cross after returning to Flanders from Italy, the work shows the clear influence of Italian Renaissance and Baroque artists such as Caravaggio, Tintoretto and Michelangelo. The central panel illustrates a tension between the multitude of finely muscled men attempting to lift the cross and the unbearable weight of Christ on the cross. Peter Paul Rubens foreshortening is evident in the contortions of the struggling, strapping men, Christ cuts across the central panel in a diagonal, stylistically akin to Caravaggios Entombment where both descent and ascent are in play at a key moment. Motion, space and time are illustrated along with the struggle to upright the cross, Rubens uses dynamic color and chiaroscuro boldly, a style that would become more subtle with time. The painting is located at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium and it was commissioned by the church to express their allegiance with Catholicism, after the split of the protestants. Under Napoleons rule, the emperor took the painting, along with Peter Paul Rubens The Descent from the Cross, the paintings were returned to the cathedral in 1815. In Ouidas novel A Dog of Flanders the main characters Nello and it serves as the climax of the story, as they both sneak inside the Antwerp Cathedral on a freezing Christmas Eve to witness the beauty of the painting. The next day they are frozen to death in front of the triptych
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