The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis
1636
oil
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
1636
oil
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis is a 1636 oil by Peter Paul Rubens, a Baroque work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see gods and goddesses crowded around a wedding feast, bodies twisting in every direction. A golden apple rolls across the table, sparking chaos. Rubens painted this as a quick oil sketch for a king’s hunting lodge. The scene comes from an old Roman poem—Discord crashes the party, tossing the apple to start a fight over who’s the most beautiful. The brushstrokes are loose, almost messy, like he worked fast to catch the energy. Look up *glazing* to see how artists layer thin, transparent paint to make colors glow like this.
