King of Baroque painting, a workshop master of motion and passion
A giant of Northern Baroque painting and a diplomat fluent in many languages. His paintings brim with swirling movement, ample flesh, and blazing color, pushing the Baroque’s passion and splendor to the extreme. He ran the largest workshop in Europe of its day, filling a flood of commissions with a team of assistants — a great artist and a successful "art entrepreneur" at once.
Rubens was not only a painter but a diplomatic envoy shuttling between sovereigns. While painting for the royal houses of Spain and England, he privately carried messages of peace, and was knighted for it. He once said he "took painting for a profession and embassies for a pastime" — one man active at the summits of both art and politics.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.