Rubens

Résumé du livre

"Such are the characteristics of Rubens's compositions of the Life of Christ after the Passion, and these are some of the problems they raise. They count amongst his most popular compositions, as witnessed by the large number of surviving copies after individual works, or after elements within them. They were mostly painted in the decade after Rubens's return to Antwerp from Italy, at a time when his reputation was being firmly established. A wide range of primarily local patrons commissioned them, and certain subjects were painted with striking frequency. But despite the exigencies of patronage and iconography, all bear testimony to the extraordinary originality of Rubens's art, an originality tempered by his keen awareness of the achievements of Italian art and a deep understanding of the Netherlandish tradition. And whatever the role assigned to his assistants in the purely mechanical aspects of the execution of these works, we are rarely left in doubt about the fluency of his painting, the faultless effectiveness of his drawing, and the fertility of his invention."--Introduction, page 28