Peter Paul Rubens
On this day in 1640 Pieter Paul Rubens, the most notable artist of Flemish Baroque art school died from heart failure, a result of his chronic gout in Antwerp, Belgium.
This allegorical scene depicts the triumph of Peace over War, of Love over Hate, a subject particularly resonant at the height of the Thirty Years' War (1618-48). Venus, Goddess of Love, nourishes her son Cupid, while Mars, God of War, is literally disarmed by love: a cherub mischievously undoes one of his armour straps. Cupid is balanced on Mars's shield, which is decorated with the monstrous face of Medusa; his precarious position refers to the unstable nature of love and peace.
Peace and War was executed in England in 1629-30, illustrating Rubens’s hopes for the peace he was trying to negotiate between England and Spain in his role as diplomatic envoy on behalf of Philip IV of Spain. Rubens eventually presented the finished work to Charles I of England as a gift.
Btw. did you know that Rubens was also a diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England?
See you tomorrow!