PETER PAUL RUBENS (1577–1640)

28 June 1577 Peter Paul Rubens is born in Siegen in German Westphalia to Jan Rubens and Maria Pypelinckx, the sixth of seven children. His father is a lawyer from Antwerp who had received his training in Italy. In 1568 Jan Rubens is forced to flee with his family to Cologne because of his Calvinist beliefs. He subsequently becomes advisor to Anna of Saxony, the wife of William of Orange.

1587 Following the death of Jan Rubens the family returns to Antwerp.

1588–91 Rubens receives a classical education in Antwerp.

1591 Begins his training as a painter in the studio of his uncle.

1592 Apprenticed to Tobias Verhaeght in Antwerp, afterwards to Adam van Noort.

1594–98 Apprenticed to the Romanist artist Otto van Veen.

1598 Completes his apprenticeship and enters the Guild of St Luke in Antwerp as a master painter.

1598–1600 Works in the studio of Otto van Veen.

1600 Leaves for Italy, becoming court painter to Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua.

1601 Arrives in Rome, extensive study of the works of Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto and Caravaggio. Entrusted with commissions by the former cardinal Archduke Albert, who had married the Spanish Infanta Isabella in 1599.

1602 In Genoa, Padua and Venice.

1603 Entrusted with a diplomatic mission by the Gonzagas to the Spanish court in Valladolid.

1604/05 In Mantua.

1606 Return to Rome. Lodges there with his brother, Philip, who is also a painter and between 1605 and 1607 was secretary and librarian to Cardinal Ascanio Colonna.

1608 Informed that his mother is gravely ill he returns immediately to Antwerp. His mother dies before his arrival. 1609 Court painter to the regents of the Spanish Netherlands, Archduke Albert and Infanta Isabella in Antwerp. His position as court painter not only brings Rubens an annual salary of 1000 gulden; in addition, he is not obliged to reside in Brussels, is exempted of all taxes and is allowed to engage as many assistants as he wishes.

3 October 1609 Marries Isabella Brant, the 18-year-old daughter of Jan Brant, a respected lawyer.

1611 Birth of a daughter, Clara Serena Rubens.

1611 Purchases a palatial house in Antwerpen surrounded by extensive gardens.

1614 Birth of a son, Albert Rubens.

1618 Birth of a son, Nicolas Rubens.

1622 Publishes a book on the “Palazzi di Genova”.

From 1622 Active as a diplomat for the English, French and Spanish courts. Conducts successful negotiations between Spain and England, and the Spanish Netherlands and Holland.

1624 Ennobled.

1625–26 Journeys to Paris and return to Antwerp.

20 June 1626 His first wife, Isabella Brant, dies, possibly due to the premature return of the family to Antwerp, where plague has broken out.

1627 Spends several months at the Spanish court.

1628 Official Spanish negotiator at the court of Charles I of England. The resumption of diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms and the subsquent truce represent the crowning achievement of his diplomatic career. from 1628 Friendship with Velasquez.

May 1629 – Spring 1630 In England. Spring 1630 Return to Antwerp. Further diplomatic activity as advisor to Maria de’ Medici, who had fled from Cardinal Richelieu in France to the Spanish Netherlands. Negotiator at renewed peace initiative between the Spanish Netherlands and the Dutch separatists.

9 December 1630 Marries the 16-year-old Hélène Fourment.

1630/31 Knighted by both the Spanish and the English kings.

18 January 1632 Birth of a daughter, Clara Johanna Rubens.

1633 Negotiations break down between the two opposing sides in the Netherlands; death of the Infanta Isabella. End of his career as a diplomat. From now on, Rubens devotes himself exclusively to painting.

12 July 1633 Birth of a son, Frans Rubens.

1635 Birth of a daughter, Isabella Helena Rubens.

30 May 1640 Peter Paul Rubens dies at Antwerp.