Peter paul rubens brief biography of marie

Thanks to his organisational capacities, Rubens could meet demand and revolutionise the problem of large-scale pictorial decoration.

His renown extended well beyond the frontiers of his country, and in 1621 Marie de Médicis, widow of Henri IV of France and mother of the reigning king Louis XIII, invited him to Paris. She wished him to decorate one of the galleries of the newly built Palais de Luxembourg with 24 monumental paintings commemorating episodes in the lives of herself and her renowned husband.

Peter paul rubens brief biography of marie

The creation of a cycle of tapestries had, in a sense, been Rubens' technical apprenticeship for this demanding task, the composition of a cycle of vast narrative paintings dedicated to a living queen who had already entered history.

Giving epic treatment to this biographical subject, Rubens was also able to give free rein to his fertile invention. He prepared two series of oil ske