Born a year before William Harvey, the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was born at Siegen in what is now Germany, but his parents had left Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) during religious upheaval. Rubens's father was a Calvinist, and the Spanish duke of that region (a Catholic called by the locals "The Iron Duke") had been persecuting the Protestants there. After his father's death in nearby Cologne, Rubens and his mother returned to Antwerp in 1589, where she raised him as a good Catholic.

    Within a decade he had completed his artistic education and attained the rank of independent master painter. Like the best artists of his time, he spent several years in Italy, enlarging his vision through exposure to the greatest works under the patronage of the Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and completing some commissions. In the middle of his Italian sojourn, he was sent on a mission to Spain by the Duke, where he saw more great works.

    In 1608, learning that his mother was ill, he returned to Antwerp, unfortunately arriving after her death. Though he was appointed painter to the court at Brussels, he was able to locate his studio in Antwerp. He traveled widely for artistic commissions, as well as serving as a diplomat and spy for his patrons, but he remained based in Antwerp until his death.

    Rubens's work is characterized by the Baroque style of the Counter-Reformation. Sixty years before his birth, Martin Luther had initiated the Protestant Reformation, to which the Catholic Church responded vigorously. The church strengthened its authority in the lands that had not converted to Protestantism; promoted a more personal spirituality; and made a greater effort to reach the common people through religious art. To this end, his work is typically bright and exuberant, filled with color and motion to attract the eye and heart. The women in his work are often plump but attractive, a style which today we describe as "Rubenesque."

    For his talent, Rubens was knighted by the Kings of both Spain and England.

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. with great energy

    2. achieved

    3. identified, distinguished

    4. making bigger, developing

    5. official representative of a government

    6. enthusiastic, energetic

    7. treating harshly, especially because of one's beliefs

    8. started

    9. temporary stay

    10. disturbance, violent change

    ANSWERS: 1. vigorously 2. attained 3. characterized 4. enlarging 5. diplomat 6. exuberant 7. persecuting 8. initiated 9. sojourn 10. upheaval