Peter Paul Rubens

Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp

Peter Paul Rubens stands among the defining figures of Flemish Baroque painting, celebrated for sweeping history pictures, hunts, landscapes and portraits carried out with vigorous brushwork and a warm, luminous palette. The sheets gathered here span the years 1597 to 1635, with impressions up to that later date, and show the breadth of his practice across forty-five works. Oil on wood prevails throughout the group, joined by oil on canvas, oil on copper and drawings in pen and brown ink, some heightened with white over black chalk. Together they trace a career that moved from early portrait and landscape studies to grand mythological and historical compositions.

45 works in the collection · All public domain (CC0)

Saint Teresa of Avila Interceding for Souls in Purgatory

· Oil on wood

Susanna

· Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash

Cambyses Appointing Otanes Judge

· Oil on wood

Portrait of Frans Francken I

· Oil on wood

Susanna and the Elders

· Oil on wood

Virgin and Child (Oil on wood)

· Oil on wood

Portrait of a Man, Possibly an Architect or Geographer

1597 · Oil on copper

The Virgin Adored by Saints (recto); Study of the Torso Belvedere (verso)

1597–1640 · Pen and brown ink (recto); red chalk (verso)

Bust of Pseudo-Seneca

1600–1626 · Pen and brown ink over black chalk heightened with white, with brush and gray ink

Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume

1617 · Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown and black ink on light brown laid paper

Palazzi di Genova

1622 · Printed text with etched illustrations

Drunkenness of Bacchus

1630–57 · Engraving and etching; first state of four (Hollstein)

Pompa Introitus...Ferdinand, Austriaci. Antwerp

1635 · Etching

Pompa Introitus Honori ... Ferdinandi Austriaci ... (Entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp, April 17, 1635)

1642 · Engraving

The Four Philosophers: Justus Lipsius, Hugo Grotius, Peter Paul Rubens, and Philip Rubens

1770–82 · Etching and engraving

Descent from the Cross (17th century)

17th century · Boxwood

Hermaphrodite

17th century · Red chalk heightened with white

Anatomical Studies: a left forearm in two positions and a right forearm

ca. 1600–05 · Pen and brown ink

Alcibiades Interrupting the Symposium (recto); Sketches of the Baptism of Christ and of a Man (verso)

ca. 1601–02 (recto); ca. 1601 (verso) · Pen and brown ink, over black chalk

The Prophets David and Daniel

ca. 1601–2 · Red chalk, brush and red and pink wash, bodycolor, heightened with white

The Holy Family with Saint Elizabeth, Saint John, and a Dove

ca. 1608–9 · Oil on oak

Study of Two Heads

ca. 1609 · Oil on wood

The Feast of Acheloüs

ca. 1615 · Oil on wood

Wolf and Fox Hunt

ca. 1616 · Oil on canvas

Atalanta and Meleager (ca. 1616)

ca. 1616 · Oil on wood

Saint Catherine of Alexandria (ca. 1620)

ca. 1620 · Etching, counterproof of the first state of three, with corrections in pen and brown ink and black chalk

Head of a Satyr (Silenus)

ca. 1620–30 · Black chalk and brush and brown wash

Portrait of a Woman, Probably Susanna Lunden (Susanna Fourment, 1599–1628)

ca. 1625–27 · Oil on wood

The Triumph of Henry IV

ca. 1630 · Oil on wood

A Sermon in a Village Church

ca. 1630 · Black chalk, oil- and water-based paints

The Glorification of the Eucharist

ca. 1630–32 · Oil on wood

The Coronation of the Virgin

ca. 1632–33 · Oil on wood

The Garden of Love (left portion)

ca. 1633–35 · Pen, brown ink, brush and gray-green wash over traces of black chalk, touched with indigo, green, yellowish, and white paint

The Garden of Love (right portion)

ca. 1633–35 · Pen and brown ink, brush and brown and green wash, heightened with light blue gouache, over black chalk

A Forest at Dawn with a Deer Hunt

ca. 1635 · Oil on wood

Helena Fourment (1614–1673), and Their Son Frans (1633–1678)

ca. 1635 · Oil on wood

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (early 17th century)

early 17th century · Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with white; contours traced with stylus for transfer

Head of Silenus (early 17th century)

early 17th century · Black chalk on light brown paper

The Holy Family with Saints Francis and Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist

early or mid-1630s · Oil on canvas

Carolus, Duke of Lower Lorraine and Gerberga

n.d. · Pen and brown ink

Battle Scene

n.d. · Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with cream-coloured gouache, on brown paper

Study of a Standing Female Saint

n.d. · Brush and light brown wash, over a little black chalk, on light grayish paper; certain contours reinforced in pen and dark brown ink

Half-Figure of a Nude Man Facing Left, Head of a Satyr

n.d. · Black chalk, heightened with white

Venus and Adonis (probably mid-1630s)

probably mid-1630s · Oil on canvas

Presentation in the Temple

recto 1611; verso 1601-2 · Pen, brush and brown ink on pale tan paper; reverse, black chalk and brown ink