Gender, Politics, and Allegory in the Art of Peter Paul Rubens examines the intertwined relationship between paintings of family and marriage, and of war, peace, and statehood by the Flemish master. Drawing extensively upon recent critical and gender theory, Lisa Rosenthal reshapes our view of Rubens' works and of the interpretive practices through which we engage them. Close readings offer new interpretations of canonical images, while bringing into view other powerful works which are less familiar. The focus on gender serves as a catalyst that enables an original way of reading visual allegory, giving it a dynamic multivalence undiscovered by traditional iconographic methods.

Figuring Faith and Female Power in the Art of Rubens argues that the Baroque painter, propagandist, and diplomat, Peter Paul Rubens, was not only aware of rapidly shifting religious and cultural attitudes toward women, but actively engaged in shaping them. Today, Rubens's paintings continue to be used -- and abused -- to prescribe and proscribe certain forms of femininity. Repositioning some of the artist's best-known works within seventeenth-century Catholic theology and female court culture, this book provides a feminist corrective to a body of art historical scholarship in which studies of gender and religion are often mutually exclusive. Moving chronologically through Rubens's lengthy career, the author shows that, in relation to the powerful women in his life, Rubens figured the female form as a transhistorical carrier of meaning whose devotional and rhetorical efficacy was heightened rather than diminished by notions of female difference and particularity.

- The first book (and exhibition) ever to present a focused study on Rubens' depictions of women. The exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery will run from October 2023 to January 2024 - This will challenge the popular assumption that Rubens only painted one type of woman. Instead it will show the varied and essential role that women played in the artist's life and work - A chance for readers to get to know the real man behind some of his most famous works - we meet not only Rubens the artist, but Rubens the father, husband, lover, diplomat, friend - Includes the latest scholarly developments in subjects such as the identities of Rubens' sitters, 17th century artistic theory and practice, and Rubens' treatment of the human body - Featuring beautiful illustrations of artworks from international and private collections, many of which will be appearing in the UK for the first time in 2023 - Provides a complete catalogue for works in this groundbreaking accompanying exhibition, as well as contextual essays that raise current debates around sexuality, power and feminism The art of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) is synonymous with the female nude, with the term 'Rubenesque' first coined in the 19th century to describe a voluptuous female body. Yet remarkably, there has never been a focused study of Rubens' depictions of women, making this book, and the exhibition that it will accompany, a first. Bringing together a diverse range of paintings and drawings from throughout the artist's career and from a range of international lenders, the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery (October 2023 - January 2024) will challenge the popular assumption that Rubens only painted one type of woman. Instead, it will present a more nuanced view of the varied and essential role that women played in the artist's life and work, uniting and contributing to recent scholarly developments in subjects such as the identities of Rubens' sitters, 17th century artistic theory and practice, and Rubens' treatment of the human body. Rubens evidently enjoyed painting the female figure, especially in its sensual and unclothed form. But his women are never mere bodies trapped by the male gaze, on the contrary; they are proud and complex heroines, full of character and gravitas. No other male artist has created such potent images of female power, assurance, determination, commitment, and beauty. Providing a catalogue for the works in the exhibition and featuring three introductory essays that contextualize Rubens' work, this publication will both contribute to the existing corpus of scholarly literature on Rubens and introduce his masterpieces to new audiences, discussing them in the context of current debates around sexuality, power and feminism.

Rubens is undoubtedly the most influential Flemish painter. Through reproductions in print, his compositions had an immense impact, even during his lifetime. Himself indebted to Titian, Rubens became a role model to Van Dyck, Rembrandt and Velázquez, and influenced artists well beyond his time, including figures such as Cézanne, Picasso, Bacon and Freud. This stunning new volume explores Rubens's legacy thematically, through a series of sections devoted to Violence, Power, Lust, Compassion, Elegance and Poetry. Illustrating some of the artists' most famous paintings alongside great works that bear his influence, each section will link artists across the centuries in their references to Rubens, from Van Dyck and Watteau to Manet, Daumier, Renoir and Van Gogh, as well as Gainsborough, Constable and Turner. AUTHOR: Tim Barringer is Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art at Yale University. Arturo Galansino is curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, London. Gerlinde Gruber is curator for Flemish Baroque paintings at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Nico van Hout is a member of the collections research team at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. David Howarth is professor of history of art at the University of Edinburgh. Alexis Merle du Bourg is an art historian and a Rubens specialist. SELLING POINTS: * Rubens is internationally recognised as one of the most influential artists of all time * This book explores the important themes he addressed in his art, and the great sway his work held over later artists 216 colour