Studies of a Roman Sarcophagus

1602·Black chalk on cream laid paper·28.5 × 42 cm (11 1/4 × 16 9/16 in.)

<p>Using chalk and a loose sheet of paper, Peter Paul Rubens depicted three figures from a sarcophagus likely seen in Roman collector Ciriaco Mattei’s garden. Rubens visited the Eternal City twice during his stay in Italy (1600–08).</p> <p>Chalk was more portable than ink and therefore an easier medium in which to directly record the remnants of Classical antiquity. Rubens used it to convey the contours of specific sculptural elements as well as the shadows created by their volumes. In comparing this drawing to its source, one can appreciate how selectively Rubens extracted the figures from their architectural surround.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1602
Medium: Black chalk on cream laid paper
Dimensions: 28.5 × 42 cm (11 1/4 × 16 9/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens

Artist

Peter Paul Rubens

Painting

Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.

Siegen, Westphalia

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