The Honeysuckle Bower (The Artist and His First Wife Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower)

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The Honeysuckle Bower (The Artist and His First Wife Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower): Peter Paul Rubens

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Peter Paul Rubens Oil Painting - The Honeysuckle Bower (The Artist and His First Wife Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower)

Keywords: Honeysuckle, Bower, Artist, Wife, Isabella, Brant, Honeysuckle, Bower

Work Overview: The Honeysuckle Bower
(The Artist and His First Wife, Isabella Brant, in the Honeysuckle Bower)
Artist Peter Paul Rubens
Year ca. 1609
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 178 cm × 136.5 cm (70 in × 53.7 in)
Location Alte Pinakothek, Munich

he Honeysuckle Bower (ca. 1609) is a self-portrait of the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant. They wed on 3 October 1609, in St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp, shortly after he had returned to the city after eight years in Italy.

The painting is a full-length double portrait of the couple seated in a bower (wikt) of honeysuckle. They are surrounded by love and marriage symbolism: the honeysuckle and garden are both traditional symbols of love, and the holding of right hands (junctio dextrarum) represents union through marriage.[2][3] Additionally, Rubens depicts himself as an aristocratic gentleman with his left hand on the hilt of his sword.

In 1609 Rubens married Isabella Brant, daughter of the humanist and lawyer, Jan Brant, one of the secretaries of Antwerp. Shortly after his marriage, he lovingly portrayed himself hand-in-hand with his wife under a honeysuckle bower.

About 32 years old, Rubens here presents himself together with his young wife Isabella in the accoutrements of chivalric elegance and in a state of happiness resulting from new love. The pair have sat down in the shade of a honeysuckle bower as if after a brief stroll, and are visibly enjoying the beauties of their metaphoric and natural "situation". He, now the grand seigneur, sitting with his legs crossed on a balustrade, is supporting with his right hand the hand of his wife, who is seated beside him on a grassy bank a little lower down. Each inclines slightly towards the other. She, while somewhat lower in the composition, is in no way his inferior in social rank, and lovingly takes his hand, casting a calm and friendly glance at the beholder. Ruff, Florentine hat, and brocade bodice casually emphasize, in combination with the angle of her head and the seated motif, the slight tension in the compositional bow which is further reinforced by her relaxed left arm and the fan she is holding in her left hand. This bow finds its response in her husband's bodily attitude, the position of his arm, and the gestures of his hands, while his orange hose leads a whimsical life of its own alongside her wine-red skirt.

Rubens is portrayed looking over the beholder from high above, his facial expression is calm and contemplative. Both man and wife are visibly aware of what they have in each other, how precious their life together is, both as solemn matrimony and as natural romantic bliss. Everything around them is green and flourishing. At the bottom left, our own gaze is drawn into an extensive landscape. Following in the motif tradition of the "garden of love", Rubens in this picture summarizes his individual, family and artistic bliss.

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The Honeysuckle Bower is a self-portrait of the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant. They wed on 3 October 1609, in St. Michael's Abbey in Antwerp, shortly after he had returned to the city after eight years in Italy. The painting is a full-length double portrait of the couple seated in a bower (wikt) of honeysuckle. They are surrounded by love and marriage symbolism: the honeysuckle and garden are both traditional symbols of love, and the holding of right hands (junctio dextrarum) represents union through marriage. Additionally, Rubens depicts himself as an aristocratic gentleman with his left hand on the hilt of his sword.

A rather noble looking couple gaze serenely at the viewer. They appear composed and self-contained and both appear to be highly cultured individuals. The man seems to have the slightest of smiles on his countenance whereas his wife is much more emotional, her smile is that much more pronounced. They sit in a simple garden, holding hands in a very affectionate manner. These two people are obviously very much in love and comfortable with one another. Both are dressed in very expensive looking garments and have very rich looking jeweled adornments. Her silk skirt, especially, captures the outdoor light revealing a silky purple hue that is tangible and realistic looking. These two could afford such fine things and wear them with confidence at their station in life. The placement of the two figures, front and centre balances the painting. They are lit in a subtle circle of light whereas the background is darker giving a rich contrast between foreground and back ground. This quiet and noble work is a self-portrait of the great baroque artist Peter Paul Ruebens along with his beloved first wife, Isabella Brant. The artist, famous for his fleshy and realistic depictions of the human form, has toned down his normal representations of fleshy cherubs and ancient myths to represent a couple sitting quietly amongst a bower of honeysuckle. The term “Rubenesque” is often used to describe his voluptuous depictions of the female form and this word has made it into the modern vernacular. The only flesh visible in this case is on both the faces and hands of the subjects. Despite this minimalistic depiction of the flesh, it continues Rueben’s keen eye for the way light and shadow play upon skin and exposes its flaws and natural imperfections. For example, the face of Isabella is round and plain looking and there is a colouring that is very close to the tone of actual skin. The hands are wrinkled and are not some highly idealized version of hands but rather as they are in reality. Rueben’s hands are depicted as strong and wrinkled, indicative of his life’s working with his hands. Also interesting is his depiction of his own legs. They are encased in very rich looking silk stockings but the musculature is very pronounced and makes the stockings almost disappears and become exposed flesh adding much realism. His fashionably bearded face is one of concentration and you can almost hear his mind at work perhaps composing and planning his next great work of art. His wife Isabella died when Ruebens was 49 and four years later he married 16 year old Helene with whom he had five children. He had three previously with Isabella and when he died in 1640; his youngest child was born eight months after his death. Despite the loss of his first wife, he continued to paint and his work and talent have left us with some of the most beautiful works of art produced in the baroque era.

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The Honeysuckle Bower (The Artist and His First Wife Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower)

Peter Paul Rubens

Work Overview