Antwerp 1609-1626 - The Isabella Brandt Years

Peter Paul Rubens was not unsuccessful in Antwerp.  He obtained commissions from the Archduke Albert and his wife Isabella and was even allowed to remain in Antwerp even though the couple lived in Brussels.  In 1609 he married Isabella Brandt there.  Not much is known about what attracted the two to one another or how compatible their morality was.  They both attended mass daily because of her and no scandal attached to their name.  The couple had three children, Clara, Albert, and Nicolas.  

Rubens, unlike other master artists like Van Gogh, was very much appreciated during his lifetime and had so many requests for artwork that, even with his supreme energy, he could not do them all alone.  Instead of refusing requests, Rubens hired a large workshop. He would do the initial sketch himself, have his workshop painters do the grunt work, and then do the details that marked the painting as a masterpiece himself. He was also a much sought after teacher and the wings in his house always had 6 to 8 apprentices and his workshop never wanted for the best painters.  A side note, Rubens was always a frugal businessman and he knew that he could only charge what his popularity allowed, so he found business with the Church.  Over 75% of his work during this time in Antwerp was done for the Church.

In 1612 his brother, Philip Rubens, died of a sudden heart attack and his widow died soon after.  Peter Paul Rubens formally adopted his two children, Philip and Clara, before the year was out.  He also financially supported the children of Blandine and Du Parcq, although they did not move into his house.

He was soon able to make his own rules and returned to the Baroque style that he had used for the Raising for “The Raising of the Cross” despite any complaints anyone could harbor.  By 1620 he had so much money that he did not need to see commissions, no matter who wanted them.  So, he cut the size of his staff and the output of his studio.  It was in this year that he also took on one of his largest, most ambitious project.  The Jesuits of Flanders were completing their new church and Rubens promised to paint thirty-nine pictures by the end of the year.  Although he was allowed to have as many collaborators as he wanted, Rubens was required to himself do all the sketches.

Always seeking to do better than what he’d already done, climbing from plateau to plateau, Rubens found out about a new job that could surpass what he’d already done in the Jesuit church.  Marie de’ Medici had just had a new house completed for her and she wanted to fill it with art.  Her idea was to commission one painting from twenty or more artists.  Rubens suggested that she should instead commission twenty or more paintings from one artist, him.  Archduke Albert and his wife Isabella were extremely amenable to this because relations with Spain were strained and they hoped that an alliance with France would give them new power.  Rubens was once again both painter and diplomat.  The paintings were originally supposed to do homage to King Henry IV, but Rubens appealed to the Queen Mother’s vanity when he suggested that he do the whole series of her life.  Unfortunately, Marie de’ Medici continued to haggle with Rubens over price after the paintings were completed.  Although she had commissioned a new series from him, she dragged her feet on important information that the artist needed: she did not want the series of her husband’s life to be created yet because it would make hers less spectacular.

Fighting had begun anew between the Netherlands and Spain.  Rubens would ignore the slight of not being paid in order to focus on smoothing the relations between these countries.  During this time King Phillip IV named Rubens as a noble.

Isabella Brandt died in 1626.  During the summer and autumn of that year, Rubens did no work.

Continue to Rubens Biography Part 5: Later Years 1627-1640 - The Hélène Fourment Years