Portrait of Rubens

unknown (German School)

Basic information

ID: Ж-476
Author: unknown (German School)
Name: Portrait of Rubens
Technique: oil painting
Material: wood oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 21.5 x 17.5

Additionally

Type: painting
Genre: portraiture
Plot: Portrait
Provenance: Collection of Lviv City Gallery
Exposition: Potocki Palace

Information about author

Author: unknown (German School)
Country: Germany

Object description

Against an oval olive background, a man turned three-quarters to the right with a beard and moustache twisted upwards is depicted. His gaze is directed toward the viewer. The man is dressed in dark attire with a white collar and a wide black hat. Pieter Paul Rubens, one of the greatest Flemish artists of the seventeenth century, was an outstanding figure in the royal courts and artistic centres of the Netherlands and a successful diplomat and scholar. He specialised in creating altarpieces, historical paintings, portraits, and landscapes. The artist's unique style embodied the aesthetics of the Baroque era. While studying in Antwerp, Rubens travelled to Italy in 1600, where he discovered the works of Italian artists such as Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Correggio, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, and Annibale Carracci. Rubens was an extremely expressive, inventive, and capable artist – he established a large studio with apprentices and students, creating numerous religious and historical paintings, mythological scenes, and portraits. Throughout the centuries, Rubens' work influenced many young artists. The self-portrait of the artist, created in 1623, was often replicated by his followers and students, striving to attain the level of the great master of portraiture. Rubens created this artwork for Charles, Prince of Wales (future Charles I). The canvas is still preserved in the Royal Collection.

Portrayed person