Beginnings
Rubens was exceptional among master painters because his success came remarkably early in life. He was born in exile in 1577 to a Catholic mother and a Protestant father. His father, an Antwerp lawyer, was living in Westphalia to avoid religious persecution. After the death of his father, Peter Paul’s Catholic mother returned to Antwerp where she raised her children as devout Catholics. Peter Paul Rubens entered Latin school and went on to serve as a court page. He then chose to become a painter. By the age of 21 he achieved the rank of master painter with the Guild of St. Luke. Rubens made his first journey to Italy in 1600 at about the age of 23 and there he stayed for eight years. His years in Italy had a profound effect on both his art and the rest of his life. He was influenced artistically by Titian, Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, Michelangelo and Raphael. In closely studying his art, one can also see an influence from Greco-Roman sculpture in the roundness yet classical lines of his figures. It is his early years in Italy that led him to develop a style of his own.
Success
In Italy, Rubens was employed by many powerful figures including Vincenzo Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua. Rubens went on to serve King Philip III of Spain as the Duke’s emissary. When Rubens left Italy, he did so as a gentleman and an artist of international renown.
It was the illness and subsequent death of Rubens’ mother that drove him back to Antwerp in 1608 for what he thought would be a short trip. Instead, in 1609 he married Isabella Brant and was employed by the Burgomaster of Antwerp. He then became the court painter to the Austrian archduke Albert and his wife the Spanish infanta Isabella who together ruled the Low Country as viceroys for King Philip of Spain.
Rubens' artistic popularity increased to the point where he needed assistants to meet the demands for his paintings. He established a workshop in which he did only the initial drawings and the finishing touches of each painting allowing his many assistants to complete the work in between. No doubt this explains why there are so many “Rubens” out there. He was a prolific painter partly because he had so much help. His position as court painter also gave him the advantage of being able to disregard many guild rules. As court painter he was not required to register his assistants nor was he required to pay taxes. This greatly enhanced his financial success.
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