"L'Assomption de la Vierge"
Peter Paul Rubens (
Siegen,
[1]28 juni 1577 –
Antwerpen,
30 mei 1640) was een
Zuid-Nederlands schilder van
Vlaamse barok,
tekenaar en
diplomaat, werkzaam in Antwerpen. Hij werd ook wel
Pieter Paul,
Pieter Pauwel of
Petrus Paulus genoemd.
Pierre Paul Rubens (prononcé [ʁybɛ̃s], ou [ʁybɛns] à la belge), ou Petrus Paulus Rubens1, ou Peter Paul Rubens2 en néerlandais, et Pietro Paolo Rubens à partir de 1608, né le 28 juin 1577 à Siegen (Nassau-Siegen) et mort le 30 mai 1640 à Anvers, est un peintre baroque flamand.
Aidé par un atelier important, Rubens produit une œuvre considérable dans des genres divers. Il accepte de peindre un grand nombre de portraits mais, « d'instinct plus porté aux grand travaux qu'aux petites curiosités » comme il l'écrivait lui-même, il prête peu d'attention aux détails, qu'il ne peint pas en profondeur et dessine de quelques traits. En effet, il va travailler à un rythme extrêmement productif, réalisant 1403 peintures selon le catalogue de Michel Jaffé. Il réalise surtout de grands projets religieux, des peintures mythologiques, et d'importantes séries de peintures historiques. Prisé des Grands pour l'érudition et le charme de sa conversation, il joue également un rôle diplomatique important à son époque et jouit d'une position sociale sans égale chez les artistes de son temps
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (/ˈruːbənz/;[1]Dutch: [ˈrybə(n)s]; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist. He is considered the most influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, color, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.
In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. Rubens was a prolific artist. The catalogue of his works by Michael Jaffé lists 1,403 pieces, excluding numerous copies made in his workshop.[2]
His commissioned works were mostly "history paintings", which included religious and mythological subjects, and hunt scenes. 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. He also oversaw the ephemeral decorations of the royal entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria in 1635.
His drawings are predominantly very forceful and without great detail. He also made great use of oil sketches as preparatory studies. He was one of the last major artists to make consistent use of wooden panels as a support medium, even for very large works, but he used canvas as well, especially when the work needed to be sent a long distance. For altarpieces he sometimes painted on slate to reduce reflection problems.
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