102-602: The Saint Stephen Triptych is a 1616–1617 oil on panel painting by Peter Paul Rubens , produced as the high altarpiece for Saint-Amand Abbey , a Benedictine house near Valenciennes . It was seized during the French Revolution and is now in the Musée des Beaux Arts de Valenciennes . The central panel shows The Stoning of Saint Stephen , whilst the main images on the two side panels show The Preaching of Saint Stephen and The Burial of Saint Stephen . When closed,
204-720: A Fur Wrap , also known as Het Pelsken , Rubens's wife is even partially modelled after classical sculptures of the Venus Pudica , such as the Medici Venus . In 1635, Rubens bought an estate outside Antwerp, the Steen , where he spent much of his time. Landscapes, such as his A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning (National Gallery, London) and Farmers Returning from the Fields (Pitti Gallery, Florence), reflect
306-601: A cathedral (in Chur Cathedral in Switzerland). In the 18th century, altarpieces like Piero della Francesca 's Saint Augustine Altarpiece were often disassembled and seen as independent artworks. The different panels of the polyptych of St Augustine are thus today spread out among several different art museums. Double-sided wing panels were often sawn apart by dealers or collectors, to give two paintings for hanging. Altarpieces have never been made compulsory in
408-573: A court painter Rubens was not required to register his pupils with the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke . About 20 pupils or assistants of Rubens have been identified, with various levels of evidence to include them as such. It is also not clear from surviving records whether a particular person was a pupil or assistant in Rubens's workshop or was an artist who was an independent master collaborating on specific works with Rubens. The unknown Jacob Moerman
510-442: A cousin of his mother. This family connection possibly explains the choice for Verhaecht as his first master. Rubens left Verhaecht's workshop after about one year as he wished to study history painting rather than landscape painting. He then continued his studies with one of the city's leading painters of the time, the artist Adam van Noort . Van Noort was a so-called Romanist , a term used to denote artists who had travelled from
612-543: A diplomatic mission in 1603, delivering gifts from the Gonzagas to the court of Philip III . While there, he studied the extensive collections of Raphael and Titian that had been collected by Philip II . He also painted an equestrian portrait of the Duke of Lerma during his stay (Prado, Madrid) that demonstrates the influence of works like Titian's Charles V at Mühlberg (1548; Prado, Madrid). This journey marked
714-487: A framed work of panel painting on wood, or later on canvas . In the Middle Ages they were generally the largest genre for these formats. Murals in fresco tend to cover larger surfaces. The largest painted altarpieces developed complicated structures, especially winged altarpieces with hinged side wings that folded in to cover the main image, and were painted on the reverse with different simpler images. Often this
816-436: A great deal of physical, sometimes aggressive, action. The concepts Rubens artistically represents illustrate the male as powerful, capable, forceful and compelling. The allegorical and symbolic subjects he painted reference the classic masculine tropes of athleticism, high achievement, valour in war, and civil authority. Male archetypes readily found in Rubens's paintings include the hero, husband, father, civic leader, king, and
918-582: A network of friendships with important figures of his time such as the scientist Galileo Galilei whom he included as the central figure in his friendship portrait he painted in Mantua known as the Self-Portrait in a Circle of Friends from Mantua . Rubens continued to correspond with many of his friends and contacts in Italian, signed his name as "Pietro Paolo Rubens", and spoke longingly of returning to
1020-477: A number of engravers trained by Christoffel Jegher , whom he carefully schooled in the more vigorous style he wanted. Rubens also designed the last significant woodcuts before the 19th-century revival in the technique. In 1621, the Queen Mother of France, Marie de' Medici , commissioned Rubens to paint two large allegorical cycles celebrating her life and the life of her late husband, Henry IV , for
1122-419: A painting or sculpture, or a set of them, the word can also be used of the whole ensemble behind an altar, otherwise known as a reredos , including what is often an elaborate frame for the central image or images . Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of Baroque painting . The word altarpiece, used for paintings, usually means
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#17327906861831224-834: A period of renewed prosperity in the city with the signing of the Treaty of Antwerp in April 1609, which initiated the Twelve Years' Truce . In September 1609 Rubens was appointed as court painter by Albert VII, Archduke of Austria , and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain , sovereigns of the Habsburg Netherlands . He received special permission to base his studio in Antwerp instead of at their court in Brussels , and to also work for other clients. He remained close to
1326-545: A popular scene. Lucas Cranach the Elder 's Wittenberg Altarpiece of 1547 is a leading example, with the side panels showing scenes of the sacraments with a modern setting, and the single predella scene Martin Luther preaching; the reverses are also painted. But Calvinism opposed all large public religious images such as altarpieces, and by about 1560 production of Protestant ones had mostly ceased. The Reformation regarded
1428-479: A pregnancy in 1571. Rubens was imprisoned in Dillenburg Castle and under threat of execution for his transgression. The illegitimate daughter, Christina of Dietz, was born on 22 August 1571. Thanks to the repeated pleas of his wife and by paying a bail bond of 6,000 thalers , Jan Rubens was permitted to leave prison after two years. The conditions of his release were a ban on practising as a lawyer and
1530-495: A prime example of Baroque religious art. Rubens used the production of prints and book title-pages, especially for his friend Balthasar Moretus , the owner of the large Plantin-Moretus publishing house , to extend his fame throughout Europe during this part of his career. In 1618, Rubens embarked upon a printmaking enterprise by soliciting an unusual triple privilege (an early form of copyright ) to protect his designs in France,
1632-536: A private teacher, Peter Paul first took up a position as a page to the countess Marguerite de Ligne-Arenberg, whose father-in-law had been the governor general of the Spanish Netherlands. The countess was the widow of Count Philippe de Lalaing and probably lived in Oudenaarde. Even though intellectually and temperamentally suited for a career as a courtier, Rubens had from a young age been attracted by
1734-644: A rather conservative format, in a medieval church. Increasingly, the size and shape of altarpieces became dictated by the overall design and decoration of the church, which the artist was required to fit in with. If funds allowed several altarpieces were commissioned for Baroque churches when they were first built or re-fitted, for the main and side-altars, giving the whole interior a consistent style. Medieval churches had mostly acquired altarpieces gradually over time, from different donors. Sculptural altarpieces, or designs integrating painting with sculpture, became more common. Examples by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680),
1836-597: A removable copper cover, also painted by the artist. His brother Philip was also at the time of his second residence in Rome as a scholar. The brothers lived together on Via della Croce near Piazza di Spagna. They had thus the opportunity to share their common interest in Classical art. Rubens's experiences in Italy continued to influence his work even after his return to Flanders. His stay in Italy had also allowed him to build
1938-559: A renewed study of Titian's paintings, copying numerous works including the Madrid Fall of Man (1628–29). During this stay, he befriended the court painter Diego Velázquez and the two planned to travel to Italy together the following year. Rubens, however, returned to Antwerp following the death of his mother and Velázquez made the journey without him. His stay in Antwerp was brief, and he soon travelled on to London where he remained until April 1630. An important work from this period
2040-571: A single dramatic action. This much height typically required a composition with an in aria group to fill the upper part of the picture space, as in Raphael 's Transfiguration (now Vatican), though The Raising of Lazarus by Sebastiano del Piombo (now London) is almost as tall, using only a landscape at the top. In Italy, during the Renaissance, free-standing groups of sculpture also began to feature as altarpieces. The most famous example
2142-547: A single pictorial space. Other types of Italian composition also moved towards having a single large scene, sometimes called a pala (Italian for "panel"), often dispensing with the predella. Rather than static figures, narrative scenes from the lives of the main figures grew in popularity; this was to become the dominant style for large altarpieces over the next centuries. Originally mostly horizontal ("landscape") in format, they increasingly used vertical ("portrait") formats. Some were as much as 4 metres tall, and concentrated on
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#17327906861832244-505: A traditional motif in European art for centuries. Rubens was quite fond of painting full-figured women, giving rise to terms like 'Rubensian' or 'Rubenesque' (sometimes 'Rubensesque'). His large-scale cycle representing Marie de' Medici focuses on several classic female archetypes like the virgin, consort, wife, widow, and diplomatic regent. The inclusion of this iconography in his female portraits, along with his art depicting noblewomen of
2346-534: Is the Pietà by Michelangelo , originally placed as the altarpiece in a side chapel of Old St Peter's . In the north of Europe, the Protestant Reformation from the early 16th century onwards led to a swift decline in the number of altarpieces produced in the parts of Europe affected. Outbursts of iconoclasm locally led to the destruction of many altarpieces. As an example, during the burning of
2448-573: Is a row of much smaller scenes running below the main panel; often these showed narrative scenes related to the subject of the main image. They were only properly visible from close up, but the extra height allowed the main panels above to be clearly seen by the congregation, and any shutters to be opened and closed with less disturbance to other items on the altar. Many altarpieces have now been removed from their church settings, and often from their elaborate sculpted frameworks, and are displayed as more simply framed paintings in museums and elsewhere. In
2550-541: Is the Allegory of Peace and War (1629; National Gallery , London). It illustrates the artist's lively concern for peace, and was given to Charles I as a gift. While Rubens's international reputation with collectors and nobility abroad continued to grow during this decade, he and his workshop also continued to paint monumental paintings for local patrons in Antwerp. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1625–26) for
2652-440: The reredos , which signifies a large and often complex wooden or stone altarpiece, and the retable , an altarpiece with panels either painted or with reliefs. Retables are placed directly on the altar or on a surface behind it; a reredos typically rises from the floor. Older retable-type altarpieces are often made up of two or more separate wood panels, sometimes with framed divisions, as in medieval examples, but later with
2754-510: The sacra conversazione developed, a group usually centred on the Virgin and Child , flanked by a group of saints usually chosen to represent the patron saints of the church, city, religious order or donors. These became increasingly informal in pose, and some may have been initially displayed in the donor's house, then bequeathed to a church as a memorial. They represented the same components as many altarpieces with framed compartments, but with
2856-588: The Antwerp Cathedral in the course of the Reformation in 1533, more than fifty altarpieces were destroyed. The Reformation initially persisted with the creation of new some altarpieces reflecting its doctrines, sometimes using portraits of Lutheran leaders for figures such as apostles. The Protestant range of subjects contracted; traditional saints were no longer shown, and the Last Supper was
2958-574: The Baroque period, the single scene became standard, sometimes incorporated in an elaborate carved frame. Usually there was no reverse view, as altarpieces were fixed to a wall in side chapels, or a built-up backing for main altars in older churches where there were other chapels behind the main altar. Predellas and closing side panels became rare, though Rubens 's Elevation of the Cross (1611) has two hinged side-wings, with saints on their other sides,
3060-733: The Battle of the Amazons (Bildergalerie, Potsdam-Sanssouci) show the influence of his master van Veen. This style was characterised by a pronounced Italianate mannerism constrained by the Antwerp workshop tradition and the Italian art theory of the Renaissance. In 1600 Rubens travelled to Italy with his first pupil Deodat del Monte. They stopped first in Venice , where he saw paintings by Titian , Veronese , and Tintoretto . The colouring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an immediate effect on Rubens' painting, and his later, mature style
3162-500: The Catholic Church , nor their usage and treatment formalised, apart from some church authorities laying down guidelines on subject-matter and style after the 16th-century Council of Trent ; therefore their appearance can vary significantly. Occasionally, the demarcation between what constitutes the altarpiece and what constitutes other forms of decoration can be unclear. Altarpieces can still broadly be divided into two types,
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3264-680: The Chiesa Nuova . The subject was St. Gregory the Great and important local saints adoring an icon of the Virgin and Child. The first version, a single canvas (now at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble), was immediately replaced by a second version on three slate panels that permits the actual miraculous holy image of the "Santa Maria in Vallicella" to be revealed on important feast days by
3366-513: The Guild of St. Luke as an independent master. As an independent master, he was allowed to take commissions and train apprentices. His first pupil was Deodat del Monte who would later accompany him on his trip to Italy. He seems to have remained an assistant in van Veen's after becoming and independent master. His works from this period, such as the Adam and Eve ( Rubenshuis , Antwerp, c. 1599) and
3468-537: The Low Countries to Rome to study the work of leading Italian artists of the period such as Michelangelo , Da Vinci, Raphael and Titian and had created upon their return home artworks that reflected their engagement with these Italian innovations. Rubens' apprenticeship with van Noort lasted about four years during which he improved his handling of figures and faces. He subsequently studied with another Romanist painter, Otto van Veen . Van Veen offered Rubens
3570-838: The Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The Marie de' Medici cycle (now in the Louvre) was installed in 1625, and although he began work on the second series it was never completed. Marie was exiled from France in 1630 by her son, Louis XIII , and died in 1642 in the same house in Cologne where Rubens had lived as a child. After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621, the Spanish Habsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with diplomatic missions. While in Paris in 1622 to discuss
3672-555: The Protestant Reformation . The ruler of the Low Countries - the Catholic Spanish king Philip II - reacted to the unrest by ordering the severe repression of the followers of the Reformation. In 1568, the Rubens family, with two boys and two girls (Jan Baptist (1562–1600), Blandina (1564–1606), Clara (1565–1580) and Hendrik (1567–1583)), fled to Cologne. As Calvinists, they feared persecution in their homeland during
3774-895: The Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium ) and moved to Antwerp at about 12. In addition to running a large workshop 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. 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
3876-724: The Veit Stoss altarpiece in Kraków (completed 1489), while in England there was a 15th-century industry producing relatively cheap painted altarpiece kits in Nottingham alabaster , many of which were exported, the frame being added at the destination. In England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity. In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with individual painted panels and often (notably in Venice and Bologna ) with complex framing in
3978-671: The ephemeral decorations of the royal entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria in 1635. He wrote a book with illustrations of the palaces in Genoa , which was published in 1622 as Palazzi di Genova . The book was influential in spreading the Genoese palace style in Northern Europe. Rubens was an avid art collector and had one of the largest collections of art and books in Antwerp. He
4080-452: The 13th century, it was not uncommon to find frescoed or mural altarpieces in Italy; mural paintings behind the altar served as visual complements for the liturgy. These altarpieces were influenced by Byzantine art , notably icons , which reached Western Europe in greater numbers following the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 . During this time, altarpieces occasionally began to be decorated with an outer, sculptured or gabled structure with
4182-502: The 16-year-old Helena Fourment . Hélène inspired the voluptuous figures in many of his paintings from the 1630s, including The Feast of Venus (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), The Three Graces and The Judgement of Paris (both Prado, Madrid). In the latter painting, which was made for the Spanish court, the artist's young wife was recognised by viewers in the figure of Venus . In an intimate portrait of her, Helena Fourment in
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4284-627: The Archduchess Isabella until her death in 1633, and was called upon as a painter and also as an ambassador and diplomat. Rubens further cemented his ties to the city when, on 3 October 1609, he married Isabella Brant , the daughter of a leading Antwerp citizen and humanist, Jan Brant. In 1610, Rubens moved into a new house and studio that he designed. Now the Rubenshuis Museum, the Italian-influenced villa in
4386-479: The Baroque tradition of depicting women as soft-bodied, passive, and to the modern eye highly sexualised beings, his nudes emphasise the concepts of fertility, desire, physical beauty, temptation, and virtue. Skilfully rendered, these paintings of nude women are thought by feminists to have been created to sexually appeal to his largely male audience of patrons, although the female nude as an example of beauty has been
4488-545: The Cathedral of Antwerp is one prominent example. Rubens's last decade was spent in and around Antwerp. Major works for foreign patrons still occupied him, such as the ceiling paintings for the Banqueting House at Inigo Jones 's Palace of Whitehall , but he also explored more personal artistic directions. In 1630, four years after the death of his first wife Isabella, the 53-year-old painter married her niece,
4590-635: The Catholic Spanish Netherlands and the Protestant Dutch Republic . He also made several trips to the Dutch Republic as both an artist and a diplomat. Some members of the courts he visited did not treat him as an equal as they held that courtiers should not use their hands in any art or trade, but he was also received as an equal gentleman by many others. Rubens was raised by Philip IV of Spain to
4692-415: The Italian masters. The Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and His Sons was especially influential on him, as was the art of Michelangelo , Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci . Rubens came in Rome also under the spell of the recent, highly naturalistic paintings by Caravaggio . He later made a copy of Caravaggio's Entombment of Christ and recommended his patron, the Duke of Mantua, to buy The Death of
4794-485: The Latin school of Rombout Verdonck in Antwerp, where they studied Latin and classical literature. Philip later became a prominent antiquarian , librarian and philologist but died young. In 1590, the brothers had to interrupt their schooling and go to work, in order to contribute financially to their sister Blandina's dowry. While his brother Philip would continue with his humanistic and scholarly education while working as
4896-479: The Marie de' Medici cycle, Rubens engaged in clandestine information gathering activities, which at the time was an important task of diplomats. He relied on his friendship with Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc to get information on political developments in France. Between 1627 and 1630, Rubens was very active as a diplomat. He travelled between the courts of Spain and England in an attempt to bring about peace between
4998-721: The Protestant destruction stimulated the creation of more and larger altarpieces in Catholic Europe. Titian produced a number of ones with very large single scenes, mostly now on canvas. Among the most influential were his Assumption in the Frari Church (1518, still on panel, 690 cm × 360 cm (270 in × 140 in)), the Pesaro Madonna in the same church (1526, now on canvas), Killing of Saint Peter Martyr (1529, now lost but known from prints and copies). In
5100-675: The Reformation (in the north of Europe) or replaced with Baroque altarpieces during the Counter-Reformation (in the southern part of Europe), or else were discarded during the Enlightenment or replaced with Neo-Gothic altarpieces during the 19th century (particularly in the United Kingdom ). In the German-speaking part of Europe , there is only one altarpiece remaining that was made for the high altar of
5202-683: The Southern Netherlands at the time sided with the Reformation and Jan Rubens also converted to Calvinism . In 1566 the Low Countries were the victim of the iconoclasic fury, referred to in Dutch as the Beeldenstorm ( pronounced [ˈbeːldə(n)ˌstɔr(ə)m] ) during which Catholic art and many forms of church fittings and decoration were destroyed in unofficial or mob actions by Calvinist Protestant crowds as part of
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#17327906861835304-494: The Southern Netherlands, and United Provinces. He enlisted Lucas Vorsterman to engrave a number of his notable religious and mythological paintings, to which Rubens appended personal and professional dedications to noteworthy individuals in the Southern Netherlands, United Provinces, England , France , and Spain . With the exception of a few etchings , Rubens left the printmaking to specialists, who included Lucas Vorsterman, Paulus Pontius and Willem Panneels . He recruited
5406-470: The Virgin ( Louvre ). He remained a strong supporter of Caravaggio's art as shown by his important role in the acquisition of The Madonna of the Rosary ( Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna ) for the St. Paul's Church in Antwerp after he had returned home. During this first stay in Rome, Rubens completed his first altarpiece commission, St. Helena with the True Cross for the Roman church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme . Rubens travelled to Spain on
5508-409: The Word of God – that is, the gospel – as central to Christendom, and Protestant altarpieces were often painted biblical text passages, increasingly at the expense of any pictures. With time, Protestant though gave birth to the so-called pulpit altar ( Kanzelaltar in German), in which the altarpiece and the pulpit were combined, making the altarpiece a literal abode for the Word of God. If anything,
5610-416: The Younger , Pieter Soutman , David Teniers the Elder , Frans Wouters , Jan Thomas van Ieperen , Theodoor van Thulden and Victor Wolfvoet (II) . He also often sub-contracted elements such as animals, landscapes or still-lifes in large compositions to specialists such as animal painters Frans Snyders and Paul de Vos , or other artists such as Jacob Jordaens . One of his most frequent collaborators
5712-410: The altar itself and sometimes in front of it. Much smaller private altarpieces, often portable, were made for wealthy individuals to use at home, often as folding diptychs or triptychs for safe transport. In the Middle Ages, very small luxury diptychs or triptychs carved in ivory or other materials were popular. Matters evolved differently in Eastern Orthodoxy , where the iconostasis developed as
5814-409: The battle weary. Paintings from Rubens's workshop can be divided into three categories: those he painted by himself, those he painted in part (mainly hands and faces), and copies supervised from his drawings or oil sketches . He had, as was usual at the time, a large workshop with many apprentices and students. It has not always been possible to identify who were Rubens's pupils and assistants since as
5916-446: The centre of Antwerp accommodated his workshop, where he and his apprentices made most of the paintings, and his personal art collection and library, both among the most extensive in Antwerp. During this time he built up a studio with numerous students and assistants. His most famous pupil was the young Anthony van Dyck , who soon became the leading Flemish portraitist and collaborated frequently with Rubens. He also often collaborated with
6018-445: The coming centuries about 80 descendants from the Rubens family were interred in the chapel. At the request of canon van Parijs, Rubens's epitaph, written in Latin by his friend Gaspar Gevartius , was chiselled on the chapel floor. In the tradition of the Renaissance, Rubens is compared in the epitaph to Apelles , the most famous painter of Greek Antiquity. His biblical and mythological nudes are especially well-known. Painted in
6120-575: The day, serve to elevate his female portrait sitters to the status and importance of his male portrait sitters. Rubens's depiction of males is equally stylised, replete with meaning, and quite the opposite of his female subjects. His male nudes represent highly athletic and large mythical or biblical men. Unlike his female nudes, most of his male nudes are depicted partially nude, with sashes, armour, or shadows shielding them from being completely unclothed. These men are twisting, reaching, bending, and grasping: all of which portrays his male subjects engaged in
6222-478: The early 14th century, the winged altarpiece emerged in Germany, the Low Countries , Scandinavia , the Baltic region and the Catholic parts of Eastern Europe . They spread to France, but remained rare in Italy. By hinging the outer panels to the central panel and painting them on both sides, the subject could be regulated by opening or closing the wings. The pictures could thus be changed depending on liturgical demands. The earliest often displayed sculptures on
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#17327906861836324-399: The figures of the Virgin and saints. In the upper niche of the retable is a marble statue depicting the Virgin as the Mater Dolorosa whose heart is pierced by a sword, which was likely sculpted by Lucas Faydherbe , a pupil of Rubens. The remains of Rubens's second wife Helena Fourment and two of her children (one of whom was fathered by Rubens) were later also laid to rest in the chapel. Over
6426-504: The first altarpieces. In the Romanesque period, painted altar frontals on panel seem to have been a common alternative location for paintings. Few survive, though small Catalonian churches preserved several, many now in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona . The development of altarpieces may have begun at the altars of side chapels, typically engaged with the wall behind, rather than at freestanding main altars. Many early altarpieces were relatively simple compositions in
6528-510: The first of many during his career that combined art and diplomacy. He returned to Italy in 1604, where he remained for the next four years, first in Mantua and then in Genoa . In Genoa, Rubens painted numerous portraits, such as the Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), and the portrait of Maria di Antonio Serra Pallavicini, in a style that influenced later paintings by Anthony van Dyck , Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough . He made drawings of
6630-426: The first several centuries of large Christian churches being built, the altar tended to be further forward (towards the congregation) in the sanctuary than in the later Middles Ages (a position to which it returned in the 20th century) and a large altarpiece would often have blocked the view of a bishop's throne and other celebrants, so decoration was concentrated on other places, with antependiums or altar frontals, or
6732-414: The form of a rectangular panel decorated with series of saints in rows, with a central, more pronounced figure such as a depiction of Mary or Christ . An elaborate example of such an early altarpiece is the metal and enamel Pala d'Oro in Venice , extended in the 12th century from an earlier altar frontal. The appearance and development of these first altarpieces marked an important turning point both in
6834-404: The form of architectural compositions. In Spain, altarpieces developed in a highly original fashion into often very large, architecturally influenced reredos, sometimes as tall as the church in which it was housed. The 15th century also saw a development of the composition of Italian altarpieces where the polyptych was gradually abandoned in favour of single-panel, painted altarpieces. In Italy,
6936-477: The harsh rule of the Duke of Alba , who as the Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands was responsible for implementing the harsh repression. Jan Rubens became in 1570 the legal adviser of Anna of Saxony , the second wife of William I of Orange who at the time lived in Cologne. She later moved to Siegen about 90 kilometres from Cologne. Jan Rubens would visit her there while his family remained in Cologne. He had an affair with Anna of Saxony, which resulted in
7038-456: The history of Christian art as well as Christian religious practice. It was considered a "significant development" because of its impact on the "nature and function of the Christian image ...the autonomous image now assumed a legitimate position at the centre of Christian worship". Painted panel altars emerged in Italy during the 13th century, and until the Renaissance were generally the largest and most significant type of panel painting . In
7140-410: The ideal of the 'pictor doctus' (learned painter), who understands that painting requires not only practice, but also on knowledge of art theory Classical art and literature and the masters of the Italian Renaissance. He also introduced Rubens to the 'code of conduct' which court painters needed to respect to become successful. Rubens completed his apprenticeship with van Veen in 1598, the year he entered
7242-521: The inner panels (i.e., displayed when open) and paintings on the back of the wings (displayed when closed). With the advent of winged altarpieces, a shift in imagery also occurred. Instead of being centred on a single holy figure, altarpieces began to portray more complex narratives linked to the concept of salvation . As the Middle Ages progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently. In Northern Europe, initially Lübeck and later Antwerp would develop into veritable export centres for
7344-418: The intellectual and artistic stimulation that suited his temperament. Van Veen had spent five years in Italy and was an accomplished portraitist and had a broad Humanist education. He knew Spanish royalty and had received portrait commissions as a court painter to Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the sovereigns of the Habsburg Netherlands . Van Veen instilled in Rubens
7446-496: The joins between panels invisible under the painted surface (as with some works by Rubens . They may also display reliefs or sculpture in the round , either polychrome or un-painted. It is then called a diptych , triptych or polyptych for two, three, and multiple panels respectively. In the 13th century, each panel was usually surmounted with a pinnacle, but during the Renaissance , single-panel pala altarpieces became
7548-654: The leading Baroque sculptor of his day, include his Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome , and his sculpted concetto around the painting by Guillaume Courtois in Sant'Andrea al Quirinale . Both of these were essentially figures in the round, but Alessandro Algardi 's Pope Leo the Great repelling Attila in St Peter's Basilica is a "huge" relief with a full scene with over life-size figures. German Baroque and Rococo altarpieces also revived
7650-497: The local taste for sculpture, with the figures in many examples (usually in stucco ) spreading around the whole upper level of the church. While many altarpieces remain today, the majority have been lost. In 1520, there were 2,000 winged altarpieces in the Austrian state of Tyrol alone; scholars estimate that before World War II , there were around 3,000 altarpieces in the entire territory of Nazi Germany . Many were lost during
7752-500: The main cities of Italy to further his studies. He was awarded the degree of doctor of ecclesiastical and civil law by the Sapienza University in Rome. Upon his return to Antwerp he became a lawyer and held the office of alderman in Antwerp from 1562 to 1568. Jan Rubens married Maria Pypelinckx, who came from a prominent family originally from Kuringen , near Hasselt . A large portion of the nobility and bourgeoisie in
7854-520: The many new palaces that were going up in Genoa. These were later engraved and published in 1622 as Palazzi di Genova . From 1606 to 1608, he was mostly in Rome when he received, with the assistance of Cardinal Jacopo Serra (the brother of Maria Pallavicini), his most important commission to date for the High Altar of the city's most fashionable new church, Santa Maria in Vallicella also known as
7956-401: The many specialists active in the city, including the animal painter Frans Snyders , who contributed the eagle to Prometheus Bound ( c. 1611–12 , completed by 1618), and his good friend the flower-painter Jan Brueghel the Elder . Rubens built another house to the north of Antwerp in the polder village of Doel , "Hooghuis" (1613/1643), perhaps as an investment. The "High House"
8058-538: The more personal nature of many of his later works. He also drew upon the Netherlandish traditions of Pieter Bruegel the Elder for inspiration in later works like Feasting and dancing peasants (c. 1630; Louvre, Paris). Rubens died from heart failure as a result of his chronic gout on 30 May 1640. He was interred in the Saint James' Church in Antwerp. A burial chapel for the artist and his family
8160-466: The nobility in 1624 and knighted by Charles I of England in 1630. Philip IV confirmed Rubens's status as a knight a few months later. Rubens was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from Cambridge University in 1629. Rubens was in Madrid for eight months in 1628–1629. In addition to diplomatic negotiations, he executed several important works for Philip IV and private patrons. He also began
8262-608: The norm. In both cases, the supporting plinth ( predella ) often featured supplementary and related paintings. The Altarpiece of Pellegrino II of about 1200 (in Cividale , Italy) is a rare survival of a large partly- gilded silver relief altarpiece. Such pieces may have been more common, but later melted down for the metal. At least in the 15th century, altarpieces for main or high altars were required by canon law to be free-standing, allowing passage behind them, while those for side chapels were often attached to, or painted,
8364-454: The obligation to take up residence in Siegen where his movements would be supervised. This put the rest of the family, who had joined Jan in Siegen, in financial difficulty. During this period two sons were born: Philip in 1574, followed in 1577 by Peter Paul who, although likely born in Siegen, was reportedly baptised in Cologne. Anna of Saxony died in 1577. The travel ban imposed on Jan Rubens
8466-606: The peninsula—a wish that never materialised. Rubens was a polyglot who corresponded not only in Italian and Dutch, but also in French, Spanish and Latin. His mother tongue and most commonly used idiom remained, however, the dialect of Brabant. This is demonstrated in that he wrote his most spontaneous letters in that dialect and also used it for the notes on his drawings and designs. Upon hearing of his mother's illness in 1608, Rubens planned his departure from Italy for Antwerp, but she died before he arrived home. His return coincided with
8568-474: The production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia, Spain and northern France. By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but also by individuals, families, guilds and confraternities. The 15th century saw the birth of Early Netherlandish painting in the Low Countries ; henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead often preferred, for example
8670-517: The purpose of providing a frame for individual parts of the altarpiece. Vigoroso da Siena 's altarpiece from 1291 (pictured) is an example. This treatment of the altarpiece would eventually pave the way for the emergence, in the 14th century, of the polyptych . The sculpted elements in the emerging polyptychs often took inspiration from contemporary Gothic architecture . In Italy, they were still typically executed in wood and painted, while in northern Europe altarpieces were often made of stone. In
8772-482: The reverse of the two side panels form an Annunciation scene. Jacob Nicolas Moreau , a traveller during the reign of Louis XV , mentioned the altarpiece, stating "I believed I saw the heavens opened, so much was I struck by the beauty of the colouring and by the freshness of this admirable painting". Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( / ˈ r uː b ən z / ROO -bənz ; Dutch: [ˈpeːtər pʌul ˈrybəns] ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640)
8874-423: The surrounding walls. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, with the possible exception of a few earlier examples. The reasons and forces that led to the development of altarpieces are not generally agreed upon. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, preceded
8976-405: The wall behind. If the altar stands free in the choir , such that visitors can pass behind the main altar, both sides of the altarpiece can be covered with painting. The screen , retable or reredos are commonly decorated. Groups of statuary can also be placed on an altar. A single church can furthermore house several altarpieces on side-altars in chapels. Sometimes the altarpiece is set on
9078-500: The woodblock prints of Hans Holbein the Younger and Tobias Stimmer , which he had diligently copied, along with Marcantonio Raimondi 's engravings after Raphael . Acting on his ambition to pursue a career as an artist, he began an apprenticeship with the landscape painter Tobias Verhaecht in 1592. Verhaecht was married to Suzanna van Mockenborch, who was a granddaughter of Peter Paul Rubens' stepfather Jan de Landmetere and also
9180-403: Was Jan Brueghel the Elder . Lost works by Rubens include: [REDACTED] Media related to Peter Paul Rubens at Wikimedia Commons Altarpiece An altarpiece is an work of art in painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church . Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as
9282-472: Was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation . Rubens
9384-580: Was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp. He was born and raised in the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany ), to parents who were refugees from Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant in
9486-424: Was also an art dealer and is known to have sold important art objects to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham . 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 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. Rubens
9588-652: Was born in Siegen , Nassau to Jan Rubens and Maria Pypelincks . His father's family were long-time residents of Antwerp tracing their lineage there back to 1350. Records show that a certain Arnold Rubens bought 'a house with court' in the Gasthuisstraat in Antwerp in 1396. The Rubens family belonged to the well-to-do bourgeois class and its members were known to operate grocery shops and pharmacies. Jan Rubens decided to study law and lived from 1556 to 1562 in
9690-499: Was built in the church. Construction on the chapel started in 1642 and was completed in 1650 when Cornelis van Mildert (the son of Rubens's friend, the sculptor Johannes van Mildert ) delivered the altarstone. The chapel is a marble altar portico with two columns framing the altarpiece of the Virgin and child with saints painted by Rubens himself. The painting expresses the basic tenets of the Counter Reformation through
9792-706: Was built next to the village church. Altarpieces such as The Raising of the Cross (1610) and The Descent from the Cross (1611–1614) for the Cathedral of Our Lady were particularly important in establishing Rubens as Flanders' leading painter shortly after his return. The Raising of the Cross , for example, demonstrates the artist's synthesis of Tintoretto's Crucifixion for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, Michelangelo 's dynamic figures, and Rubens's own personal style. This painting has been held as
9894-547: Was buried in Cologne's St Peter's Church , a Catholic church. The widow Maria Pypelinckx returned with the rest of the family (i.e. Blandina, Philip and Peter Paul) to Antwerp in 1590, where they moved into a house on the Kloosterstraat. Until his death in 1587, father Jan had been intensively involved in his sons' education. Peter Paul and his older brother Philip received a humanist education in Cologne which they continued after their move to Antwerp. They studied at
9996-659: Was lifted in 1578 on condition that he not settle in the Prince of Orange's possessions nor in the hereditary dominions of the Low Countries and maintain the bail bond of 6,000 thalers as security. He was allowed to leave his place of exile in Siegen and to move the Rubens family to Cologne. While in Siegen, the family had of necessity belonged to the Lutheran Church in Cologne; the family now reconverted to Catholicism. The eldest son, Jan Baptist, who may also have been an artist, left for Italy in 1586. Jan Rubens died in 1587 and
10098-470: Was profoundly influenced by Titian. His visit to Venice coincided with that of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga of Mantua . It is possible that he was hired by the Duke during his stay in Venice or that Otto van Veen, who was court painter to Archdukes Albert and Isabella, joint governors of Flanders, had introduced Rubens to the Duke during the latter's visit to the Brussels court. The small duchy of Mantua
10200-571: Was registered as his pupil while Willem Panneels and Justus van Egmont were registered in the Guild's records as Rubens's assistants. Anthony van Dyck worked in Rubens's workshop after training with Hendrick van Balen in Antwerp. Other artists linked to the Rubens's workshop as pupils, assistants or collaborators are Abraham van Diepenbeeck , Lucas Faydherbe , Lucas Franchoys the Younger , Nicolaas van der Horst , Frans Luycx , Peter van Mol , Deodat del Monte , Cornelis Schut , Erasmus Quellinus
10302-402: Was renowned as an art centre and the Duke as an avid art collector with a rich collection of Italian masters. Rubens mainly painted portraits of the Duke's family and also copied the famous Renaissance paintings in the Duke's collection. 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
10404-443: Was the normal view shown in the church, except for Sundays and feast days , when the wings were opened to display the main image. At other times visitors could usually see this by paying the sacristan . Altarpieces with many small framed panels are called polyptychs ; triptychs have a main panel, and two side ones. Diptychs , with only two equally sized panels, were usually smaller portable pieces for individuals. The predella
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