Honeysuckle Bower
The Honeysuckle Bower (c. 1609) is a self-portrait of the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant. They wed on 3 October 1609, in St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp, shortly after he had returned to the city after eight years in Italy.[1]
| The Honeysuckle Bower | |
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| Artist | Peter Paul Rubens |
| Year | c. 1609 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 178 cm × 136.5 cm (70 in × 53.7 in) |
| Location | Alte Pinakothek, Munich |
The painting is a full-length double portrait of the couple seated in a bower (wikt) of honeysuckle. They are surrounded by love and marriage symbolism: the honeysuckle and garden are both traditional symbols of love, and the holding of right hands (junctio dextrarum) represents union through marriage.[2][3] Additionally, Rubens depicts himself as an aristocratic gentleman with his left hand on the hilt of his sword.[4]
Details
The couple, close-up
Isabella Brant
The hands
External links
Notes
- Kristin Lohse Belkin, Rubens, London: Phadon (1998): 95–98. ISBN 0-7148-3412-2
- Martin Schawe, Alte Pinakothek Munich, 2nd. ed., Munich: Prestel (2002): 76. ISBN 3-7913-2239-7
- Hans Vlieghe, Flemish Art and Architecture 1585–1700, New Haven: Yale University Press (1998): 121–122. ISBN 0-300-07038-1
- Belkin, 98.
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