Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) - one of the most prolific artists in the history of painting, he wrote about 3 thousand ploten, and it was often large-scale oil paintings, the size of 2 by 3 meters with many carefully drawn human figures. This is not the work of impressionists, which could be written in 10 minutes, which was successfully demonstrated by Claude Monet on his famous painting "Impression. The Rising Sun." That is, there is work exceeding the capabilities of man, but Rubens somehow managed to cope with it. This is what we will talk about in this article.
Self-Portrait
Rubens, despite the fact that he came from a family of merchants, already in his youth firmly decided to become an artist. He went to Italy, where he studied painting and copied the works of famous artists, in particular, Titian.
Left: Titian. Adam and Eve. 1550. Right: Peter Paul Rubens. Adam and Eve. 1628.
And always added something of his own, well aware that on one craft copying a great artist to become a big artist can not get. And also, despite his youth, was well brave and self-confident, because he allowed himself to make small edits in the paintings of already recognized masters.
Gradually Rubens gained skill, and the evolution of the artist's work can be traced in these two paintings.
Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens. Left: St. Domitilla supported by St. Nereus and St. Achilles of Rome. 1608. Right: The Ascension of St. Mary. 1618
The early work is fairly standard for those years - grayish colors, fancy, but simple composition - the three main characters stand in a row, and above them are depicted angels. In the later work is different - an interesting two-tiered composition, bright colors, spectacular red dress and spiritualized face of St. Mary - immediately believe that we are watching a miracle of God because and positive emotions that picture causes much more.
Paintings wrote Rubens with passion - he got up early in the morning, breakfasted what God sent and immediately began work, which lasted until late in the evening. He rarely drank wine, and not too distracted by everything else not related to painting, although it is difficult to call him a recluse. And when it was necessary to write paintings as quickly and efficiently as possible, Rubens was the best candidate for the job.
The Three Graces.
Once several paintings intended for the Spanish King Philip III fell into the rain and was hopelessly spoiled. At stake were the interests of the Duchy of Mantuan - a small, formally independent state in Italy, under the influence of the Holy Roman Empire, so Rubensu had to fix these paintings urgently. And he coped, although he worked to exhaustion, Philip III so did not suspect anything.
Hunting lions
Rubens never missed his advantage, was sociable and social, able to flatter in time and willingly collaborated with other artists. Together with Jan Bruegel the elder, he often created paintings for local aristocrats. Rubens painted people and the general background, and Bruegel senior, who specialized in still lifes and images of various animals, completed the rest, as in the famous painting of the Garden of Eden.
Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Bruegel the Elder. The Garden of Eden.
When the fame of it spread throughout Europe, from the customers were not from the selection. Rubens did not refuse anyone, but purely physically could not fulfill such a volume of work. Therefore, he opened a large workshop, which took a lot of apprentices and very young students, and then began a real "painting conveyor belt" - he thought through the composition, applied the initial drawing and subsequently wrote the faces of his characters. And all the rest - the background, details of clothing, body, taking into account the peculiarities of his style wrote apprentices and students.
However, Rubens could do everything himself, but took for such work twice as expensive. But rich and noble customers price did not scare the price, for example, Rubens himself wrote a series of paintings "Maria de Medici".
Arrival of Maria de' Medici in Marseille. From the cycle of paintings "Gallery of the Medici".
Everyone knows that Rubens painted full women, but why did he do it? Perhaps the fact that Rubens was still an artist of the Northern Renaissance and along with Titian and Raphael studied the paintings of Durer. But Durer loved naturalism and naturalness, believed that the artist should reflect the truth, even if it is not so beautiful.
Bacchanalia
It's also a matter of color nuances. Rubens was a master of glossing, and this effect was enhanced when the characters were full with many folds, so there was a "pulsing of blood" - the most natural and lively image that has delighted many painting lovers for centuries.
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