Rubens: A Portrait
Search in google:
In this relevatory biography, Paul Oppenheimer asserts that Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens' impact and view of beauty resonate today, and that his groundbreaking techniques actually foreshadowed 20th century cinema and Einsteinian physics.BooknewsCountering the current unfashionable status of this Flemish Renaissance artist (1577-1640), Oppenheimer (comparative medieval literature, English, and history of science, City U. of New York) provides sociopolitical context in arguing that Rubens' sensual style and "aesthetics of motion" presaged modern sensibilities. The book includes color plates of notable paintings including , and translations of family letters. This is a reprint of a 1999 work published by Duckworth Publishers (London, England). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
PrefaceixList of IllustrationsxiIntroduction1I.Rubens and the Question of Beauty1.The True Opposites of Evil and the Demonic: Prelude92.The Artist Meets the Prince103.The Landscape of the Portrait154.Publishers, the Word and Censorship215.Musicians and the Flemish Renaissance266.Painters and the Discovery of Natural Lighting287.Light and Mannerism318.Massys, Mor, Bruegel and the New Tradition339.Poetry and Painting3710.History and Painting3911.Sizes and Theatres4112.Political Festivals, Masques and the Bliss of Illusion4513.Two Weddings and the Signs of Revolution4814.Family History5315.The Menace of the Reformation5816.The Profanation of Art6217.Philip II and the Revolt in the Netherlands6518.The Flight to Germany6919.Refuge in Cologne7320.Disappearance and Compassion7721.Release and the Tragedy of Anna von Saxon7922.Birth and the Months at Siegen8323.Beginnings in Cologne8624.'The Common Calamity'9125.The Ongoing Violence9326.The Slaughter at Mons and Mechelen9427.The Spanish Mutiny9628.The Role of Don Juan9829.The Spanish Fury10030.Don Juan's Misjudgements10231.Artists and the War10432.The Death of Don Juan10733.Alexander of Parma and the Great Betrayal10934.The Theatrical Soldier11035.Coups de grace11136.The Family Returns to Antwerp11437.Life as a Court Page11838.The Apprentice Years12039.The First Three Masterpieces124II.The Idea of Absolute Beauty40.Journey to Venice13141.The 'Heavenly Shew upon the Water'13342.The City of Virgil, Mantegna and Giulio Romano13643.The Wedding in Florence14044.Copying as Innovation14145.From Mantua to Rome14746.The Roman Experience15047.The New Aesthetic15548.The New Sensuality15849.The First Roman Commission15950.Excursions through Italy16651.Off to Spain16952.Spies and a Sea Voyage17353.Disaster and Ghost-Painting17654.The 'Poison Reason Drinks'18155.The Revolutionary Portrait18656.Mantua, Friendships and Galileo19057.Stock-Taking in his late Twenties19258.Rubens and the History of Ideas19559.The Second Stay in Rome19760.Getting Rid of 'the Smell of the Stone'20261.Early Fame and a Journey to Genoa20662.Rejection and a Summons Home208III.Beauty Human and Superhuman63.Grief and New Beginnings21364.'The Hand of the Artist'21965.The Creation of Aliveness22266.The Apprehension of Beauty22767.The Pacts for Beauty23068.Studio Life23369.The 'Lover of Antiquities'23870.Jealousy, War and the Engraving Business243IV.Kings, Queens, Ministers and the Angelic71.Large Works and the Atmosphere of Creation25372.The Medici Invitation25773.'The Theme Is so Vast and so Magnificent'25974.Science and Art Amid the Ruins26375.The Triumph of Political Theatre26576.The English Experiment27377.The Artist Meets the King28278.Securing the Pact for Peace28579.A Previous Engagement29080.A Marriage of Politics and Art29481.The Fantasy of Peace and War296V.Rubens and Sensuality82.Toward a New Optics30183.Mission Cancelled and a Second Marriage30384.New Life, New Beauty30685.Promoting War31086.Beauty, Evil and the Whitehall Pictures31387.Festivals of Love32188.Ferdinand's Joyous Entry32689.The Second Golden Apple32990.Living out of Town33191.'The Unfortunate Europe'33692.Painting Beauty Bare33993.The Chance to Do 'Something Extraordinary'343VI.Apotheosis: Beauty and PhysicsBeauty and Physics351Notes355Select Bibliography389Index399
