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Peter Paul Rubens

From the original Art on Stamps archive

Self-Portraits of

Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens , Peter Paul (1577-1640), Flemish painter, the most important of the 17th century, whose style became an international definition of the animated, exuberantly sensuous aspects of Baroque painting. Combining the bold brushwork, luminous color, and shimmering light of the Venetian school with the fervent vigor of Michelangelo's art and the formal dynamism of Hellenistic sculpture, Rubens created a vibrant art, its pulsating energies emanating from tensions between the intellectual and emotional, the Classical and the Romantic.

H elene was the second wife of Rubens. The painter married her in 1630. She was the younger sister of Suzanne, the model of the famous painting "Le Chapeau de Paille" (see the next page).

Background: The Four Continents, Fine Arts Museum in Vienna.

Original archive page: Art-Gallery/Rubens/rubens.htm