Rubens, his wife Helena Fourment, and their Child
Original title: Rubens, his wife Helena Fourment, and their Child
kurzbeschreibung
Charles Phillips's mezzotint from around 1770 presents Peter Paul Rubens with his wife Helena Fourment and their child. Measuring 38.4 by 27.9 cm, the print translates a painting into graphic art and highlights the familial pose in precious garments.
Description
Rubens and Helena occupy the center, with the child placed to their right, creating a balanced, almost mirror-like arrangement. Sumptuous garments, rooted in Rubens's era, envelop the figures. Behind them rises a column with a female sculpture, while a flowering plant stands on the left. The gray tones characteristic of mezzotint come to the fore, and the interplay of light and shadow brings out the texture of the clothing and the features of the faces.
Context
More than a century after Rubens's death in 1640, this print was made around 1770. It belongs to the many reproductive engravings through which old master works were circulated in the 18th century. Charles Phillips, an English engraver, specialized in translating paintings. The original reproduced here is a famous family portrait by Rubens, dated around 1635 and now held in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Impact
At first, the mezzotint's graduated tones draw the eye and make the boundary between print and painting almost dissolve. The luxurious fabric and the dignified bearing of the sitters are thereby emphasized. Calmly and symmetrically composed, the image unites formal distance with familial intimacy and opens a window onto the courtly sphere of the 17th century.
Technique
Mezzotint is an intaglio process: the plate is first uniformly roughened and then smoothed in areas intended to be lighter, producing tonal gradations. This allows soft transitions and a rich rendering of light and shadow, as seen in the garments and faces of this print. It was printed on paper; the dimensions are 38.4 x 27.9 cm.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)