Esso presents Rubens and the Italian Renaissance
28 Mar 1992 – 8 Jun 1992
About
Rubens and the Italian Renaissance explores Peter Paul Rubens's (1577–1640) fascination with Italian painting, from the artist's arrival in Venice in 1600 until his death in Antwerp in 1640. The rich heritage of the Renaissance and the brilliance of the Mannerist school made a profound impression on the young Rubens, who absorbed the techniques and styles of such masters as Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and Caravaggio. This exhibition presents an outstanding selection of Rubens's paintings and drawings together with a rich pageant of the sixteenth-century Italian historical, religious and mythological works that were to have such an extraordinary and lasting influence on this celebrated painter. It also highlights Rubens's exceptional range of interests and intentions in emulating and enhancing the inventions of these Italian masters.
The content on this page has been sourced from: National Gallery of Australia. Esso presents Rubens and the Italian Renaissance. Exhibition leaflet, 1992.
Themes
Mythology
The subjects of mythological paintings include Venus, Flora, Mercury, Pan, Pluto, Mars, Hercules, Perseus and Romulus and Remus.
The Bible and art
Familiar religious themes and subjects include the Virgin, the Resurrection, the Holy Family, Moses, Susannah and the Elders, David and Goliath, Judith and Holofernes and the Saints Barbara, Jerome. John and Stephen.
The figure in drawings and paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
A collection of master drawings as well as oil portraits of Phillip II, a knight of Malta, Gaspard Schoppius, Thomas Howard Earl of Arundel and Rubens's self-portrait are among the outstanding portrait and figure studies on display.
Italian culture
The exhibition will present a survey of sixteenth-century Italian painting as a background to Rubens and the Italian Renaissance, with particular emphasis on the period 1550 to 1600.