Rubens

by Oppenheimer, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780815412090
• ISBN10: 0815412096
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Cooper Square Pub

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Paul Oppenheimer is professor of comparative medieval literature, English, and history of science at the City University of New York.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
List of Illustrations	xi
Introduction	1	(8)
I. Rubens and the Question of Beauty
The True Opposites of Evil and the Demonic: Prelude	9	(1)
The Artist Meets the Prince	10	(5)
The Landscape of the Portrait	15	(6)
Publishers, the Word and Censorship	21	(5)
Musicians and the Flemish Renaissance	26	(2)
Painters and the Discovery of Natural Lighting	28	(3)
Light and Mannerism	31	(2)
Massys, Mor, Bruegel and the New Tradition	33	(4)
Poetry and Painting	37	(2)
History and Painting	39	(2)
Sizes and Theatres	41	(4)
Political Festivals, Masques and the Bliss of Illusion	45	(3)
Two Weddings and the Signs of Revolution	48	(5)
Family History	53	(5)
The Menace of the Reformation	58	(4)
The Profanation of Art	62	(3)
Philip II and the Revolt in the Netherlands	65	(4)
The Flight to Germany	69	(4)
Refuge in Cologne	73	(4)
Disappearance and Compassion	77	(2)
Release and the Tragedy of Anna von Saxon	79	(4)
Birth and the Months at Siegen	83	(3)
Beginnings in Cologne	86	(5)
`The Common Calamity'	91	(2)
The Ongoing Violence	93	(1)
The Slaughter at Mons and Mechelen	94	(2)
The Spanish Mutiny	96	(2)
The Role of Don Juan	98	(2)
The Spanish Fury	100	(2)
Don Juan's Misjudgements	102	(2)
Artists and the War	104	(3)
The Death of Don Juan	107	(2)
Alexander of Parma and the Great Betrayal	109	(1)
The Theatrical Soldier	110	(1)
Coups de grace	111	(3)
The Family Returns to Antwerp	114	(4)
Life as a Court Page	118	(2)
The Apprentice Years	120	(4)
The First Three Masterpieces	124	(7)
II. The Idea of Absolute Beauty
Journey to Venice	131	(2)
The `Heavenly Shew upon the Water'	133	(3)
The City of Virgil, Mantegna and Giulio Romano	136	(4)
The Wedding in Florence	140	(1)
Copying as Innovation	141	(6)
From Mantua to Rome	147	(3)
The Roman Experience	150	(5)
The New Aesthetic	155	(3)
The New Sensuality	158	(1)
The First Roman Commission	159	(7)
Excursions through Italy	166	(3)
Off to Spain	169	(4)
Spies and a Sea Voyage	173	(3)
Disaster and Ghost-Painting	176	(5)
The `Poison Reason Drinks'	181	(5)
The Revolutionary Portrait	186	(4)
Mantua, Friendships and Galileo	190	(2)
Stock-Taking in his late Twenties	192	(3)
Rubens and the History of Ideas	195	(2)
The Second Stay in Rome	197	(5)
Getting Rid of `the Smell of the Stone'	202	(4)
Early Fame and a Journey to Genoa	206	(2)
Rejection and a Summons Home	208	(5)
III. Beauty Human and Superhuman
Grief and New Beginnings	213	(6)
`The Hand of the Artist'	219	(3)
The Creation of Aliveness	222	(5)
The Apprehension of Beauty	227	(3)
The Pacts for Beauty	230	(3)
Studio Life	233	(5)
The `Lover of Antiquities'	238	(5)
Jealousy, War and the Engraving Business	243	(10)
IV. Kings, Queens, Ministers and the Angelic
Large Works and the Atmosphere of Creation	253	(4)
The Medici Invitation	257	(2)
`The Theme Is so Vast and so Magnificent'	259	(4)
Science and Art Amid the Ruins	263	(2)
The Triumph of Political Theatre	265	(8)
The English Experiment	273	(9)
The Artist Meets the King	282	(3)
Securing the Pact for Peace	285	(5)
A Previous Engagement	290	(4)
A Marriage of Politics and Art	294	(2)
The Fantasy of Peace and War	296	(5)
V. Rubens and Sensuality
Toward a New Optics	301	(2)
Mission Cancelled and a Second Marriage	303	(3)
New Life, New Beauty	306	(4)
Promoting War	310	(3)
Beauty, Evil and the Whitehall Pictures	313	(8)
Festivals of Love	321	(5)
Ferdinand's Joyous Entry	326	(3)
The Second Golden Apple	329	(2)
Living out of Town	331	(5)
`The Unfortunate Europe'	336	(3)
Painting Beauty Bare	339	(4)
The Chance to Do `Something Extraordinary'	343	(12)
VI. Apotheosis: Beauty and Physics
Beauty and Physics	351	(4)
Notes	355	(34)
Select Bibliography	389	(10)
Index	399