IT IS CLEAR FROM PETER PAUL RUBENS’ life that he put a lot of effort and discipline into his work. He was regarded as the most influential living artist of his time and had one of the most successful careers, not only as a painter among the crème de la crème of Europe, but also as a diplomat and collector. His life story appears to be one of patriarchal male triumph, but its true heart is of the women he painted, the women he loved and the women he served.
We may assume that – as an artist who produced thousands of works and lived through a period of intense turmoil in Europe – he had limited opportunity to develop close relationships with those around him. However, Rubens gave his family and friends the same kind of
