1. Introduction

1 Introduction GILLIAN MCINTYRE: Peter Paul Rubens was one of the most innovative and successful artists in Europe in the 1600s. A brilliant draughtsman and painter, his imagery is full of drama, color, movement and emotion. He was also a member of scholarly and humanist circles, and worked for royal courts around Europe, both as an artist, and as a diplomat. This exhibition explores a pivotal period in his early career. After eight years in Italy, where he immersed himself in modern Italian and ancient art, he returned to Antwerp, in the country we now call Belgium. There, established himself as one of the foremost artists of northern Europe, in demand as a painter of moving religious images, spectacular mythological scenes, and portraits with a vivid sense of life and character. 127 words