1622
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Portrait of Isabella Brant is a 1622 unspecified by Peter Paul Rubens, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows Isabella Brant sitting with a book in her hands. Warm colors and thick paint make her face and dress feel alive. Her eyes meet yours like she’s about to smile. Rubens painted his first wife many times. Here, he shows their bond—soft light on her skin, gentle wrinkles in her dress. She’s not posing. She’s just there. Look up chiaroscuro next. It’s the trick he uses to make light and dark play across her face.
Isabella Brant was Rubens’s first wife. He painted her many times in many different ways before she died at the age of 35 (she is a model for a nymph in the other work by Rubens in this room). This intimate portrait, painted at least five years before her death, suggests the close relationship between the painter and sitter through the warm palette, the luscious brushstrokes, and her lively expression.
First, Rubens painted Isabella’s face, then at a later date he added hands.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ROO-bənz; Dutch: ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat.
See the richer artist page
