RUBENS, PETER PAUL

born June 28, 1577, Siegen, Nassau, Westphalia died May 30, 1640, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands [now in Belgium] Flemish painter who was the greatest exponent of Baroque painting's dynamism, vitality, and sensuous exuberance. Though his masterpieces include portraits and landscapes, Rubens is perhaps best known for his religious and mythological compositions. As the impresario of vast decorative programs, he presided over the most famous painter's studio in Europe. His powers of invention were matched by extraordinary energy and versatility. Charles Scribner III Additional reading General discussions of Rubens' life and work include Christopher White, Peter Paul Rubens: Man & Artist (1987); Charles Scribner III, Peter Paul Rubens (1989); Kerry Downes, Rubens (1980); and Martin Warnke, Peter Paul Rubens: Life and Work (1980). Ruth Saunders Magurn (trans. and ed.), The Letters of Peter Paul Rubens (1955, reprinted 1991), is also of interest. Special topics are studied in Julius S. Held, The Oil Sketches of Peter Paul Rubens, 2 vol. (1980), and Rubens: Selected Drawings, 2nd ed. (1986); Michael Jaff, Rubens and Italy (1977); Wolfgang Stechow, Rubens and the Classical Tradition (1968); Lisa Vergara, Rubens and the Poetics of Landscape (1982); and C.V. Wedgwood, The Political Career of Peter Paul Rubens (1975). Corpus Rubenianum Ludwig Burchard, ed. by the National Centrum voor de Plastische Kunsten van de XVIde en XVIIde Eeuw, Belgium (1968 ), in English, is a monumental catalogue raisonn.