Rubens with his Wife and Child
Medium
Mezzotint; second state of two
Dimensions
Plate: 20 1/8 × 14 1/8 in. (51.1 × 35.8 cm) Sheet: 21 3/16 × 15 3/16 in. (53.8 × 38.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Georgiana W. Sargent, in memory of John Osborne Sargent, 1924
Accession Number
24.63.107
Tags
Art Historical Context
This mezzotint captures a tender family moment from the life of the great Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. Created by the Irish engraver James McArdell between 1740 and 1765, the print reproduces an intimate self-portrait showing Rubens alongside his second wife, Helena Fourment, and one of their young children. Rubens, celebrated for his dynamic compositions and sensual handling of paint, married the much younger Fourment in 1630; their household became a frequent subject in his later works, blending personal affection with the grandeur of his artistic vision. McArdell’s choice of ...
About the Artist
Helena Fourment|Frans Rubens|Peter Paul Rubens|James McArdell|Peter Paul Rubens (British|Flemish|Flemish) · 1746 |1614 |1577 –1823 |1673 |1640
British, London? 1746/47?–1823 Paris|Flemish, Antwerp 1614–1673 Brussels|Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp