Rubens & Women
PETER PAUL RUBENS’ relationships with women nurtured his vision and art. Ramsha Vistro digs deeper into how the women in his family – especially his two wives – played a fundamental role
IT IS CLEAR FROM PETER PAUL RUBENS’ life that he put a lot of effort and discipline into his work. He was regarded as the most influential living artist of his time and had one of the most successful careers, not only as a painter among the crème de la crème of Europe, but also as a diplomat and collector. His life story appears to be one of patriarchal male triumph, but its true heart is of the women he painted, the women he loved and the women he served.
We may assume that – as an artist who produced thousands of works and lived through a period of intense turmoil in Europe – he had limited opportunity to develop close relationships with those around him. However, Rubens gave his family and friends the same kind of devotion as he did his artistic work.
The paintings by Rubens in the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s collection – all of which include women – serve as the inspiration for the Rubens & Women exhibition. It displays the variety of interactions Rubens had with women, whether fictitiously through the prism of mythology and religion or in actual life.
But why have his works depicting women not been highlighted before? “There’s been some discomfort with it,” says Amy Orrock, co-curator of Rubens & Women. “In the 17th century, it was desirable to be more full-figured and affluent while women were derided in the 19th century. For example, Edward Burn-Jones drew caricatures of ‘fat’ women, so Rubens’ women were dismissed and not seen as attractive because the ideal of what was beautiful changed.”
His two wives and eight offspring play a crucial part in his creativity, but the Rubens and women story goes back further than this, starting with his mother, Maria Pypelinckx (1538–1608), a charming and powerful lady who had an early impact on the artist. It is both fascinating and challenging to determine how much Rubens’ mother’s personality and his tragic family history influenced his outlook on life and body of work. No other famous artist painted his family as frequently or as affectionately as Rubens did.
While the Flemish artist’s artworks were inspired by both his wives, they each had very different influences. “He was informed by the women that he knew. The depictions of his wives are a blend of his vision of ‘ideal women’ – not just of beauty but of strength and peace
