PETER PAUL RUBENS PORTRAIT MEDAL

HART, Laurent Joseph: Belgium, 1840, Bronze, 72 mm
Obv: Bust of Rubens wearing hat, with a chain from which a coin is pendent    PIERRE-PAUL RUBENS
Rev: Statue of Rubens at Antwerp on a pedestal on which is an inscription:  PETRO PAULO RUBENS CIVI OLIM SUO S.P.Q.A. MDCCCXXXX  Around:  SOUVENIR DES FETES BISSECULAIRES CELEBREES EN L'HONNEUR DE RUBENS OFFERT PAR LES ARTISTES A L. JACOBS CONSEILLER COMMUNAL
Exergue: ANVERS 1840
Signed: HART FECIT 1840
Ref: Eidlitz 146/852; Guioth 297; Kluysk. II, p. 401,6; Europese Penningen # 66;  Forrer II, p. 433;  Weiss BW153

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish painter, engraver, designer and architect and the most influential Baroque artist of Northern Europe. He was born in Westphalia but worked in several European countries, including Belgium (particularly in Antwerp, where they erected a monument in his honor), Italy and France, gaining an international reputation with his huge, vigorous paintings. Rubens worked for many of the royal families of Europe, his most notable commissions including 25 gigantic paintings of Marie de' Medici and a group of more than 100 mythological paintings for Philip IV of Spain. He was also appointed court painter to Archduke Albert of Brussels, was knighted by Charles I of England, and again by Philip IV of Portugal upon his completion of negotiations establishing a treaty between Portugal and England. This medal, showing his monument in Antwerp, commemorates the 200th year of his death.

LINK to BIOGRAPHY AND PAINTINGS BY RUBENS  (from WebMuseum by Nicholas Pioch)

LINK to  Peter Paul Rubens website  (from Artsy.net)

HOME PAGE