Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower,

um 1609/10

Material / Technology / Carrier

Leinwand, auf Holz übertragen

Dimensions of the object

178 x 136,5 cm

Displayed

AP OG Saal VII

Department

Flemish Painting

Genre

Painting

Inventory number

334

Acquisition

1806 aus der Galerie Düsseldorf

Stock

Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Alte Pinakothek München

Citation

Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens und Isabella Brant in der Geißblattlaube, um 1609/10, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Alte Pinakothek München, URL: https://www.sammlung.pinakothek.de/en/artwork/o5xrMEr47X (Last updated on 28.08.2023)

Rubens returned to Antwerp in 1608 after an eight-year stay in Italy. The following year he married Isabella Brant. This portrait was probably painted to mark this occasion. Both its representative format and the exquisite robes chosen served as a means of nobilitation. Through its allusions to Antiquity and the humanist tradition it also points to Rubens’s self-image as an artist. Honeysuckle is also commonly known as “the longer the better” and symbolises love’s durability.