Happy birthday, Peter Paul Rubens

It is the birthday of Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577), who is remembered for his exuberant Baroque works that were full of sensuality, movement, and color. He is particularly known for his paintings of full-figured women, which led to the term Rubenesque for larger women. But he also painted portraits of friends, landscapes, historical scenes and commissioned altarpieces during the Counter Reformation. He also served as a diplomat, and was knighted by Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. Rubens earned a fine living from his paintings but it is unlikely they fetched in his lifetime the sum that one of his works did in 2002. His first version of The Massacre of the Innocents (1612) brought $76.2 million at auction, still a record for a European master painting.

Massacre of the Innocents (1612) was sold for $76.2 million in 2002.