Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens Is Considered One Of The Most Important Painters Of European Art Editorial Photo

He was born in the Westphalian city of Siegen, in the family of a successful Antwerp Protestant lawyer who fled Antwerp from religious oppression. In 1589, two years after his father's death, Rubens and his mother returned to Antwerp, where he converted to the Catholic faith. Religious motifs were among the most important in his later work. In Antwerp, his mother put him in training with the best local painters.In 1600 he went to Italy, where he worked as a court painter for the Mantua Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga. He visited Venice, Rome and Genoa, where he studied ancient art and learned by copying the works of Italian masters. His style was strongly influenced by Titian at that time.