Morning Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Description of Peter Rubens’ painting The Mourning of Christ

The brilliant painter, originally from the Netherlands, embodied like no other the vividness and sensuality of Baroque European painting. His artistic legacy encapsulates the Brueghelian laws of realism and the achievements of the Venetian school.

Despite the popularity of works of religious subjects and mythological motifs, the artist was a virtuoso in landscape and portraiture. He never hesitated to imitate one of his predecessors, from whom he took his example and used individual elements of the famous Masters in his work. His formation as an artist was influenced by the works of Titian and Brueghel.

The distinctive characteristics of his paintings are compositional solutions, the richness of the colors used and their shades. But the most important nuances by which one can undoubtedly recognize the work of Rubens are the gestures of the people. They are always wonderfully realistic and painted exactly in the individual artistic style of Rubens.

Boldness and freedom are contained in Rubens’ brushstrokes. He had an artistry of brushwork that sets the artist apart, especially in painting multi-meter compositions.

Rubens painted this canvas while in Italy. In the painting he combined the Virgin Mary’s weeping over Jesus and his position in the tomb. Christ’s unmoving body was already weighted down, his head tipped to the side. He was surrounded by Joseph of Arimathea, John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene. Very realistically, the artist conveyed their profound experiences. Dense staging of figures creates tension in the picture. It is inherent in the culture of Baroque.

The color solution of the work very subtly and naturally depicts human flesh. Because of the stormy sky and the lighting of only the foreground, there is an acute sense of anxiety, but at the same time, and sublimity of the subject.

Overall, the painting acts as an iconography.