User:Lrsteele103/Honeysuckle Bower
Painting by Peter Paul Rubens / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Honeysuckle Bower is a self-portrait of the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens and his first wife Isabella Brant, executed c. 1609. 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.[1]
Quick Facts The Honeysuckle Bower, Artist ...
The Honeysuckle Bower | |
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Artist | Peter Paul Rubens |
Year | c. 1609 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 178 cm × 136.5 cm (70 in × 53.7 in) |
Location | Alte Pinakothek, Munich |
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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.[4]