Peter Paul Ruben's Bible Paintings Part 2
Peter Paul Ruben's Bible Paintings Part 2 The next painting shows Adam and Eve. Here Eve has her hand against the tree of life. ...
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Peter Paul Ruben's Bible Paintings Part 2
The next painting shows Adam and Eve. Here Eve has her hand against the tree of life. You can see part of the snake. Adam is addressing Eve. She is listening to him shyly. It seems that Adam is telling her that it is forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge. In the background, we see the garden of Eden. Their poses are quite naturalistic. Their bodies are idealistic but realistic in their mannerism. Thus, Peter Paul Rubens gets 5 stars.
The next Adam and Eve painting is a bit more proactive. Adam is gesturing Eve as he tells her not to touch the apple. The Snake Baby is giving her the apple. Their faces are quite expressive. Adam looks alarmed. Eve is simply mesmerized by the prospect of attaining knowledge. Both are in perfect physical condition. Eve has a belly to show that she is fertile. I like the animals all over the Garden of Eden. I noticed the sky is getting clouding. Its like a prelude to God's wrath. Pretty cool, if you ask me. Anyhow, Peter Paul Rubens gets another 5 stars.
In this version, Peter Paul Rubens makes more emphasize on the animals of the Garden of Eden. Its surprising the variety of animals that appeared in this painting. Rubens painted animals from both Africa and America. The Turkeys are native to America. As for the Tigers and the Ostrich, we know they can be found in Africa. Its an entire fauna of animals. Well, in Europe they started to circulate Encyclopedias of animals. All the explorers that traveled abroad sent back sketches of all the wonders they saw. Anyhow, this lovely painting deserves 5 star rating.
The next painting shows Esther and Ahasuerus. Basically, this painting shows Esther being presented to the Persian king. Its a matter of life and death for the Jews that Esther is liked by the king. She was nervous and her maids are holding her up. The king is pointing at her with his baculo (or power stick). Sounds perverted if you ask me. Hehehehe. Its interesting the historical attires of these people. By now, the look of the Persians was well familiar to the well traveled Europeans. The perceptive is pretty neat. As if we are looking up from bellow. Anyhow, this lovely baroque painting deserves 5 star rating.
In the next painting, we see Judith with the Head of Holofernes. Its neat the contrast between the old hag and Judith. The Flemish painters prefer to add a source of light when working with chiaroscuro. They added a touch of realism to the light of the soul. In my Caravaggio blog, I spoke of the divine light manifested in a stage light effect. The Flemish painters had a thing for realism derived from their dealings with their Holland brethren. Thus, the divine light is show through candle light. Well, back to describing Esther. The exposed chest stands for her sensuality. Her strong arms and the blade alludes to her physical strength. In other words, she is strong and hot. She used her female body catch Holofernes off guard and cut his head. The scenery is quite dark. I can only make out a shield behind the women's head. Well, with darkness you do not need to go crazy about backgrounds. In any case, Ruben's Bible painting deserves 5 star rating.
The next painting shows Melchior, The Assyrian King. He gave Baby Jesus gold. Gold stood for the Kingship on Earth. His attire is just like those Middle Eastern kings. Rubens did a great job with this wise King. He really does look wise. Well, there is no point in over meditating on this painting. Lets just move right along. Another, 5 stars for Rubens.
The next painting shows a scene from the Prodigal Son. This theme became popular during the Counter Reformation. It was the church's way of informing the Protestants that they would welcome them back to their flock. They even claimed that they would throw a party for repentant Protestants. Anyhow, this painting shows the Prodigal son begging a woman for swine food. By now, he has lost all of his money. Most of the painting focuses on the barns. Outside the barn, we see a regular rural town of the time. The main scene takes place in the bottom right. You got to admit that the scenery is quite realistic. The maidens and the Prodigal son look like regular Flemish people. One a commoner, the other a beggar. I think that is everything worth mentioning. 5 stars for Peter Paul Rubens' bible paintings.
Above, we see Bathsheba taking a bath. She has just received Kind David's love letter. Its interesting Ruben's rendering of the black messenger. Well, Blacks slaves became a commodity among the elite Europeans of Rubens' time. I do so love how her servant is combing her hair. She is preparing to head out. Behind her we can see King David's castle. By the balcony, I can see King David eying Bathsheba. King David is such a peeping Tom. Then again, one cannot be too discrete to take a Bath beneath the window of his highness. You know, I do love the pet doggie of Bathsheba. He stands for fleshy love. Anyhow, this lovely Bible Baroque painting of Rubens deserves 5 star rating.
This painting is called "Cherubs". Here several adorable cherubs are playing on top of the cross. This stands for both the birth and death of Jesus. Life and death are tied to each other in this world. One begets the other. However, through Christ death is defeated. The kids models are all adorable. The outside is a regular garden. All the vegetation is realistic. Rubens' cherubs are similar to Murillo. However, they have a touch of realism. Meaning, that they have no wings. Anyhow, Rubens deserves 5 star rating.
Here is another Cherub painting. Here two pretty cherubs are ridding Lions. I think the Lions look really cool. The blonde cherub is extremely pretty. The lions stand for kingship. The Torches for fame. The cherubs stand for the church. In the background, we see a city. The clouds are quite epic. I think that is all worth mentioning. Rubens' lovely painting deserves 5 star rating.
The next painting shows Daniel in the Lions den. The prophet Daniel was execute by being thrown into a Lion's den. God's power kept the Lions at bay. Here we see lots of hungry Lions. Daniel has his eyes toward the heavens. He is praying to God to deliver him from the Lions. I think its pretty cool how he is trying to avoid touching a Lion. The lions look are realistic. As an ambassador, Rubens was able to stroll about many courts. It so happens that exotic animals were common in palaces. Thus, Rubens was able to see many lions. Anyhow, Rubens deserves 5 star ratings.
The next painting shows David about to cut Goliath's Head. Goliath is gazing up in anger at David. In the background, I see the Armies about to collide in epic battle. The scenery looks pretty cool. The angle makes David look more massive than Goliath. He covers most of the painting. Both David and Goliath look like 16th century Flemish people. Goliath and the army sport knight armors. Pretty cool if you ask me. All the figures are pumped up. Anyhow, this lovely painting deserves 5 stars rating.
Here is another version of Lot escaping from Sodom. This one is of higher quality than the other version. It has a Stone relief arrangement. This time there are two angels. Its interesting how Rubens stopped Lot's wife looking back. She disobeyed and was turned to a pillar of salt. Kinda of a harsh punishment. In this version, the daughters are bringing more luggage. Between the red angel's legs, I see a little marching toy dog. Pretty weird. This is the second time I see that same doggie. I think that is everything worth mentioning. Peter Paul Ruben's deserves 5 stars rating.
The next painting is called "Hagar in the Desert". Hagar was Sarah's slave. When Sarah saw that she was sterile, she gave her slave to Abraham for him to have a son. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. God also promised a kingdom to the line of Ishmael. As a matter of fact, the Muslim claim to be the people of Ishmael. Here, Hagar has been painted without traces of her bondage. She actually looks like a regular Flemish noble woman. However, she is in the wilderness. Sarah kicked Hagar out when she had Isaac. She felt threatened by his presence. She feared that because Ishmael was the firstborn he might get Abraham's inheritance. This is a perfect example were women have command over men, in the Old Testament. Its interesting food for thought. However, I do feel sorry for Hagar. Regardless, Rubens deserves 5 star rating.
Well, this painting shows Queen Tomyris. She is part of the nine Female worthies Chosen by the church. These maidens show the most valuable attributes of women. Basically, this queen along with her son fought against the King of Persia, Cyrus. This event occurred around 530 BC. She dipped his head in blood in order to avenge her son's death. That is one angry mother of a Queen. In this painting, all the figures are looking at the head being dipped in the cauldron of blood. The woman are to the left and the men to the right. That is the traditional placement of men and women. Women are siniestra and men Diestra. Their attires have a healthy blend of orient and western. Mostly, they are all up to the Flemish fashion.
The next painting shows the meeting of Solomon and The Queen of Sheba. This is an interesting event from the book of Solomon. Its another one of those chapters that praised the Wisdom of Solomon. Basically, the Queen of Sheba heard rumors of Solomon's Wisdom. She want to see it for herself. Here the Queen is greeting Solomon like a friend. Her vassals are carrying gifts of Good will. The black servant has both a parrot and a monkey. These are all symbols of the Orient and Africa. Solomon and his soldiers have an European look. Needless to say, its Middle East meets West. In any case, Rubens gets another 5 star rating.
This dynamic Baroque painting shows the massacre of the Innocent. Herod the ever paranoid, staged a phony event. He invited to a party all the Bethlehem women with male children less than 5 years old. He then ordered his guards to butcher all the children. This is actually a historical event. They searched around Bethlehem and found a massive grave of small children. The dates of the bones matches the day set by the Bible and Herod' records. Romans where into history, so they kept tight records of executions. Its not the brightest episode of the Bible. This event draws parallel to the slaying of the firstborns by the Pharaoh. Rubens rendered this event quite well.
Here we see the Roman soldiers dressed in knight armors slaying the babies. The women are dressed like Flemish high class ladies. The entire scene is in turmoil. The scenery takes place in an ancient Roman city. Toward the top left, some angels are watching. They are holding flowers and they prepare to take the dead children to paradise. The entire scene is divided into small individual dramas. One women is shielding her baby with her body. Another is clawing at a Roman soldier who stole her baby. You have to be a heartless bastard to kill a baby with your bare hands. That is just plain evil!! In any case, this dynamic baroque painting deserves 5 star rating.
The last painting is called "Music Making Angels". The title says it all. Its simply shows a bunch of angels playing all kinds of instruments. They represent the heavenly orchestra. All these angels seem to become one with the light of God. The light seems to draw you to the center. Anyhow, this last painting deserves 5 star rating. I hope that you liked them a lot. Peter Paul Rubens truly is a talented Baroque artist.
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