Painting #120 - Baroque in Flanders

Baroque in the Flanders 

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640, Flemish Baroque)

The Descent from the Cross 

- Rubens 

- oil on panel  (420 × 320 cm)  1612-14

- Cathedral of Our Lady  (Antwerp)

The central panel of a triptych painting.

The Gerbier Family
- Rubens
- oil on wood  (166 x 178 cm)  c.1629/40
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

The Apotheosis of Henri IV
and the Proclamation of the Regency of Marie de Médicis
- Rubens
- oil on canvas  (394 x 727 cm)  c.1622-25
- Louvre Museum  (Paris) 

[L] On the left, Jupiter and Saturn are shown welcoming the assassinated King of France, as he ascends as a personified Roman sovereign, victoriously to Olympus.

[R] The right side of the panel shows the succession of the new Queen, dressed in solemn clothing suited to a widow. She is framed by a triumphal arch and surrounded by people at the court. The Queen accepts an orb, a symbol of government, from the personification of France while the people kneel before her and this scene is a great example of the exaggeration of facts in the cycle. 

The above painting is among the following cycle:

The Marie de' Medici Cycle
 - Rubens
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a series of 24 paintings by Peter Paul Rubens commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry IV of France, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The paintings now hang in the Louvre in Paris.

The Judgement of Paris
- Rubens
- oil on panel  (145 x 194 cm)  c.1636
- National Gallery  (London) 

Greek mythology: aided by Venus, shepherd Paris (Prince of Troy actually) won the heart of Helen (Queen of Spectacus), who then deserted her family for Troy. The King of Spartacus waged the Trojan War.

Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria
  - Rubens
- oil  (153 x 99 cm)  1606
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Jacob Jordaens  (1593–1678, Flemish)

The Four Evangelists
- Jacob Jordaens
- oil on canvas  (133 x 118 cm)  c.1625
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The Four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the authors of the Gospels), are represented together engaged in study and discussion.

Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641, Flemish) 

Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo
- Anthony van Dyck
- oil on canvas  (243 x 139 cm)  1623
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington)

Charles I at the Hunt
- van Dyck
- oil on canvas  (105 x 76 cm)  1635
- Louvre  (Paris) 

Charles I (1600–1625–1649), believing in the divine right of kings, was monarch of England, before he was beheaded. 

His son Charles II (1630-[1649-1651]-[1660-1685]) since refused to entitle the army 'Royal': today they have the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Forces. He ceded Dunkirk to France in 1662, as his restoration needed Louis XIV's support.

Source: Wikipefia