Smarthistory with Flemish Master Peter Paul Rubens

OLV kathedraal Antwerp

Peter Paul Rubens, Elevation of the Cross

Together with Smarthistory, an American not-for-profit organization for the study of art history, and the Center for Netherlandish Art at Museum of Fine Arts Boston, we are bringing a series of video conversations with curators on important Flemish paintings by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, and James Ensor.

In this video Dr. Bert Watteeuw, Director of the Rubenshuis in Antwerp, and Dr. Beth Harris discuss the artwork ‘Elevation of the Cross’ (1610), by Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

The triptych was originally painted for the Church of Saint Walpurgis, which was destroyed during the French Revolution, but it found a new permanent home in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp.

Can’t get enough of Rubens’s genius? Make sure to visit Antwerp and follow in his footsteps. Explore the artist’s home, Rubenshuis; visit the city palaces of his friends and contemporaries (Snijders & Rockox House, Museum Plantin-Moretus); and marvel at his masterpieces in the monumental churches and in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts

Peter Paul Rubens in Situ

Descent from the Cross – Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp, Cathedral of Our Lady

Also interesting

De Intrige van James Ensor zaalfoto
What’s the story behind the masked faces and did Ensor really find inspiration in a work by Peter Paul Rubens? Discover more in this video about ‘The Intrigue’.

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