Garden of Love by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638
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Rubens' later period compositions are know for their full of strenuous delight in life and love. Amongst these is the so-called Garden of Love or as it is still better designated in a contemporary engraving the Court of Venus.
Rubens himself called it Conversatie a la mode. Among the various versions of this composition, which differ slightly in size and lesser details, that in the Dresden Gallery is the one best known; whilst that in the Museum at Madrid, with half-size figures, is generally considered the finest.
The Dresden example is on a smaller scale, but is most carefully executed. The artist also designed this composition for reproduction as a wood-cut, which Christopher Jegher, who had already been so successful in copying from the master's sketches, executed, and which Rubens himself undertook to publish.
The subject is treated with great freedom. A number of elegant cavaliers and ladies, dressed in the luxurious fashion of the period, are assembled in a garden, and seem to be full of life and spirit. It is a brilliant summer day, and the shady gloom of a grotto adorned with satyrs, and cascades of water tempts the heated reveller.
Beside the broken rocks, is a fountain adorned with a marble statue of Venus, at whose feet most of the gay company are assembled. Upon the edge of the fountain a number of putti are sporting. They float in the air with brandished weapons; they hide in the rose-bushes and flutter around to assist the love- making of the various couples.
Here they caress one timid maid: and there they whisper courage in the ear of another. There is throughout the whole scene the indescribable charm of exuberant gaiety. It is easy to recognize in the centre of the composition the lovely features of Helena Fourment, radiant in youthful grace.
She can also be traced as the original of a sketch, now in the Louvre, intended as a study for a lady in the Garden of Love, who in a reclining position is supported by a cavalier, towards whom she playfully bends her head on one side and listens with apparent pleasure.
Other paintings/pictures tagged "Garden of Love"
"Garden of Love" (1633) Museo del Prado, Madrid |
"Garden of Love detail" (1633) Museo del Prado, Madrid |
"The Garden of Love 1" (1631) Art Institute, Chicago |
"The Garden of Love 2" (1631) The Hermitage, St. Petersburg |
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Pictures from Flickr tagged Rubens,Garden of Love
Popular Works by Peter Paul Rubens
The Deposition (1602) • The Four Evangelists (1614) • St George Fighting the Dragon (1606-1610) • The Incredulity of St Thomas (1613-1615) • St Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata (1635) • The Entombment (1611-1612) • The Lamentation 1 (1614) • Martyrdom of St Thomas (1639) • St Sebastian (1614) • Massacre of the Innocents (1637) • Immaculate Conception (1628) • The Road to Calvary (1634-1637) • The Stigmatization of St Francis (1616) • Last Supper (1631-1632) • The Adoration of the Magi (1624) • St James the Apostle (1612-1613)
Rubens Mythological Paintings
Prometheus Bound (1610-1611) • The Head of Medusa (1617) • The Rape of Europa (1630) • Perseus and Andromeda (1620-1621) • The Judgement of Paris (1606) • The Three Graces (1639) • Garden of Love (1638) • The Battle of the Amazons (1618) • Nature Adorning the Three Graces (1615)
Rubens Allegorical Paintings
The Consequences of War (1637-1638) • The Four Continents (1615) • Allegory on the Blessings of Peace (1629-1630) • The Union of Earth and Water (1618) • Cleopatra (1615) • The Triumph of Victory (1614)
Rubens Biblical Scenes
Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1616) • Samson and Delilah (1609-1610) • The Massacre of the Innocents (1611-1612) • Bathsheba at the Fountain (1635)
Rubens Large Projects For Royal Orders
The Triumph of Truth (1622-1625) • The Landing of Marie de Medicis at Marseilles (1623-1625) • The Fates Spinning Marie's Destiny (1622-1625) • The Meeting of Marie de Medicis and Henri IV at Lyon (1622-1625) • Marie de Medicis as Bellona (1622-1625)
Rubens Altarpieces In Antwerp Cathedral
Descent from the Cross (1611-1614) • Assumption of the Virgin 1 (1626)
Rubens Landscapes
Return of the Prodigal Son (1618)
Rubens Portraits
The Death of Seneca (1612-1613) • Isabella Brandt 1 (1626)