Rubens
A leading painter of Baroque painting and also a diplomat active at royal courts across Europe.
Life
Antwerp
Rubens was born in Siegen, Germany, to parents who were exiles from Antwerp, and later returned to Antwerp to study painting. From 1600 he spent eight years studying in Italy, deeply influenced by Titian and Michelangelo.
Baroque master
After returning to Antwerp, he became court painter to the governors of the Spanish Netherlands and ran a large workshop, producing for courts and churches across Europe a great many grand, richly colored and dynamic works, such as The Elevation of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross, as well as a monumental series painted for the queen mother of France.
Painter-diplomat
He also traveled between Spain and England as a diplomatic envoy, helping bring about peace between the two countries, and was knighted by both kings. He died in 1640.
Legacy
Rubens is the foremost representative of Flemish Baroque art, and his former home in Antwerp is now a museum.
Major works & achievements
- The Elevation of the Cross
- The Descent from the Cross
Did you know? He was fluent in six languages and was called "the prince of painters and the painter of princes."
Key dates
- 1600Went to Italy to study painting
- 1609Became court painter of the Spanish Netherlands
- 1610Completed The Elevation of the Cross
- 1622Painted a series for the French queen mother
- 1630Helps broker the Anglo-Spanish peace; knighted
- 1640Died