Tag: Peter Paul Rubens
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Marie de’ Medici, the multiparous queen
The Louvre Museum in Paris displays the cycle of twenty-four large-scale paintings by Peter Paul Rubens of scenes from the life of Marie de’ Medici, one of the most influential and controversial figures in French royal history. Originally commissioned by Marie for her Luxembourg palace, the cycle is now displayed in the Louvre’s Galerie Medicis.…
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Recognizing nonverbal communication through art
Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States On a recent excursion to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a themed tour, medical students gathered to look at paintings of suffering and healing. For this medical humanities elective, led by faculty members, each small group viewed these images, using a discussion guide to elicit their responses. Our tour…
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The wounds of Christ and Prometheus – two of a kind?
Julia van RosmalenThomas van GulikAmsterdam, Netherlands The myth of Prometheus has been a source of inspiration for many visual artists over the centuries. Prometheus, a Titan, was punished by the supreme god Zeus for giving to mankind the Olympic fire, with which they learned to think and feel. He was chained to a cliff in…
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Drunk in love: Bodies and consumption in Samson and Delilah
Lee Andrews Peter Paul Rubens’ rendition of Samson and Delilah (1610) depicts Samson sleeping on Delilah’s lap as a Philistine cuts his hair, thereby removing the secret to his herculean strength. The artist who gave us the term “Rubenesque,” in which the words “plump” and “pleasing” describe the female form, had much to express about…