The Assumption of the Virgin

Peter Paul Rubens

The Assumption of the Virgin
c. 1626
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Photographed by Team C004570

"When the backsides look good enough to slap there's nothing more to do "
-Peter Paul Rubens

 Dubbed "the greatest of Northern Baroque painters" Peter Paul Rubens was a strong influence on many painters after his time. Caught in the midst of the religious conflicts, Rubens was born in 1577 in exile when his father, Jan Rubens converted to Calvinism and fled the country to escape persecution.

After his return to Antwerp, Belgium, his family's old home, he took on a number of apprenticeships in art, he earned the title of master artist of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1598. In 1600, he moved to Rome to study art. It was there that he fell under the influence of Renaissance artists such as Titian, Michelangelo and Raphael, as well as contemporaries such as Caravaggio.

He returned to Antwerp in 1608, upon the arrival of news regard his mother's failing health. He remained in Antwerp, and in 1609, he was married to his first wife Isabella Brant who became the subject of many of his paintings. That same year, he also became the court painter to the Archduke Albert of Brussels. In 1622, he received another commission for Marie de Medici, the Queen Mother of France.

In 1628, he started a political career as the Protestant ambassador to Spain. There he mentored Diego Velázquez, and painted for King Philip the IV. When he returned to Antwerp in 1630, he married his second wife Hélène Fourment, and purchased a country estate near Antwerp. He remained there until his death in 1640.

©2000 Team C004570