Peter Paul Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 - May 30, 1640) was a Flemish baroque painter. He was born in Westphalia to a successful Protestant lawyer, who had fled Antwerp to escape religious persecution. After his father's death, Rubens and his mother returned to Antwerp, where he had himself baptized a Catholic. Religion was to figure prominently in much of his later work.
In Antwerp, his mother apprenticed Rubens to some of the leading painters of the time. Under their influence, he travelled to Italy to study the artistic styles of the Italian Renaissance.
Rubens was knighted by King Charles I of England for his diplomatic efforts to bring about a peace treaty between that country and Spain. He was also commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Banqueting House at the Palace of Whitehall.
He was interred in Saint Jakobskirche, Antwerp, Belgium.
At a Sotheby's auction on July 10, 2002, Rubens' painting "The Massacre of the Innocents" was sold for £49.5million (US$76.2 million) to Lord Thomson.
Painting for Peace
His picture in the National Gallery, London, The Allegory of Peace and War, 1629, reflects, and even illustrates, his strong concern for peace. It was given to King Charles I and helped to create a peace treaty between London and Madrid. He even visited Holland which was “enemy territory” partly to meet Dutch artists and partly to seek for reconciliation. It was here that he came up against the attitude that courtiers should not use their hands an any art or craft. But because he was such a fine artist King Philip and King Charles both enjoyed his company as well as his art. Rubens is to be seen as a highly talented artist, a scholar and diplomat, brilliant at drawing and painting). Allegory on the Blessings of Peace is the only surviving Rubens' ceiling painting.
