Since I've been studying Art History, I have never found myself to be a big fan of the Baroque era. But I fell in love with the artwork by Peter Paul Rubens. The Baroque era was all about movement, color, and sensuality, and the female body. Rubens loved to paint mythological subjects, something I always found fascinating. I remember learning about mythology in high school by one of my more favorite teachers. The subject captivated me for many years. One of the paintings I was introduced to while studying Rubens was The Three Graces. The 15th century painting is capturing the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology.
Rubens has a wonderful way of depicting these three women. He has them all standing in very sensual position. They're bodies curving from head to toe, showing a sense of movement. These are key focuses for the Baroque style. The death of his first wife, Helene Fourment, was his influnce for his Rubenesque style of painting. Rubens created a series of paintings with "plus-sized" women such as The Feast of Venus, The Judgment of Paris and of course The Three Graces.
At age 14, Peter Paul Rubens started his artistic apprenticeship with Thobias Verhaeght. Nine years later he traveled to Italy to start studying famous works in museums. He was greatly influenced by the work of Titian and the influence can easily be seen in his artwork.
Photos and Information gathered from http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rubens/rubens49.html, http://www.peterpaulrubens.org/
