Catherine de Duve - The Little Rubens: A Fun and Cultural Moment for the Whole Family!

The Little Van Gogh

The Little Renoir

The Little Monet

The Little Degas

The Little Klimt

The Little Turner

The Little Bruegel

The Little Van Eyck

The Little Rubens

The Little Czanne

The Little Waterloo

Marie-Antoinette

A History of Belgium for children

To Franzi Nestor

Before you start reading, take a sheet of paper and several pencils.
You will need them to do the exercises.

Whenever you see this pencil, it is your turn to play!

Merchant ships come from all parts of the world to moor alongside the quays of Antwerp, the biggest port in Europe. Here they unload their precious cargoes: spices, cane sugar, silk, linen cloth, iron, copper, gold, diamonds, pigments,

In those days, Belgium did not yet exist. It was part of a region known as the Low Countries. The kings of Europe were fighting among themselves to divide up the world between them, and battle was raging between Catholics and Protestants. An eighty year war (1568-1648) had started. The City of Antwerp was also under threatBut happily, in 1609 the Archdukes Albert and Isabella signed a twelve year peace agreement

This is the golden age of Antwerp. You can find everything you want. You might easily run into scholars, scientists and famous artists.

Im from Africa!

Look at Antwerp harbour. What kind of ships are moored there? Where have the ships come from? What are the houses like?

PETER PAUL RUBENS was born on June 28th 1577 in Siegen, in Germany. His father was a protestant lawyer and deputy mayor of Antwerp. One day he had to flee, because of the war with Spain, and for religious reasons. So Rubens spent his childhood in Cologne. On the death of his father, the family returned to Antwerp as the situation had changed. The Spanish had reconquered the city and the Rubens family could once again settle there, on condition that they became Catholics.

At school, Peter Paul learned Latin, Flemish and French. While still a child he enjoyed drawing and made copies of illustrations he found in the Bible. Later, he acquired some of the beautiful books published by his school friend Balthasar Moretus, the grandson of Plantin the famous printer.

Balthasar Moretus

Young Rubens was taken on as a page by a Countess before being apprenticed, at the age of 15, to a landscape painter and then to the most famous artist in Antwerp, Otto Van Veen, who advised him to go to Italy to complete his training. At about the age of 21, Rubens was appointed Master at the Guild of St. Luke.

A Guild is a grouping of artisans, merchants or artists who practise the same profession such as crossbowmen, fishermen, painters and the like

Like Rubens, learn to draw from an illustration in a book. Complete the drawing of the cat.

Michelangelo

Off we go to the country of art! In 1600, Rubens was 23 years old when he left for Italy, a real school for painters! For eight years, he discovered the sculptures of Roman antiquity and was inspired by the colours of the best known Venetian artists and of the Italian renaissance. Why are colours so much more beautiful in Venice? The light there is so special! There too you can find the most beautiful pigments in the world which are used to prepare the colours.

See how the pigments were prepared:

coloured powder was obtained from stones, roots and earth to make paint. Painters used to mix these with a binding agent such as linseed oil or egg-white.

The Italian Renaissance: After the Middle Ages, Italy was reborn as it rediscovered Antiquity and its art. Italy became a centre for art, thanks to its brilliant artists such as Leonardo da Vinci (who painted the Mona Lisa), Michelangelo (who painted the Sistine Chapel), Titian,

At the court of the Duke of Mantua, Rubens painted portraits, copied paintings and decorated churches. In March 1603, he accompanied a convoy which was transporting presents for Philip III, the King of Spain, to Madrid. Then he became an ambassador! He met the king and was shown his art collection, which included works by Titian, which he copied.

Compare the painting by Titian with that of Rubens. Search for Venetian colours on the palette.

Titian

Three beautiful women appear to be dancing in a circle in a heavenly garden. They are the Three Graces, daughters of Jupiter: Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia. In Greek mythology, they are the guardians of the golden apples of the Garden of the Hesperides.