Portrait of Helena Fourment, Rubens' second wife, wearing a fur coat over her shoulders (ca. 1786–1815)
Original title: Portrait of Helena Fourment, Rubens' second wife, wearing a fur coat over her shoulders
kurzbeschreibung
Between about 1786 and 1815, Jakob Mettenleiter produced this stipple engraving after a painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It shows Helena Fourment, the artist's second wife, within an oval frame, a cloak draped over her shoulders. The print is executed as a stipple engraving on paper.
Description
Inside the oval, the woman stands barefoot on a pedestal. A long black cloak covers her right side, while her left hand gathers the fabric at her waist. Her right hand is crossed in front of her body. Her hair is tied in a knot and adorned with a flower. The uniformly dark background makes the figure stand out; below the oval border one reads the title 'LA FEMME DE RUBENS'.
Context
Helena Fourment became Rubens's second wife in 1630. The painting reproduced here hangs in the Galerie Imp. Roy. à Vienne, today part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Mettenleiter made his engraving in the late 18th or early 19th century, when reproductive prints after famous masterpieces were widely circulated.
Impact
The dark surroundings and the contrast between the black cloak and the pale skin give the portrait an intimate yet solemn note. The oval format and the pose on the pedestal make the reproduction appear sculptural and monumental.
Technique
In stipple engraving, an intaglio technique, the image is formed entirely from the finest dots. Mettenleiter used this method to achieve soft tonal transitions and a detailed copy of the painting. The paper has been trimmed; its dimensions are 32.8 × 22.7 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)