Dr. Peter Paul Rubens
@peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
All-around genius working for peace, beauty, and intelligent thought.
IRL: professor of art history. Occasionally write things about Rubens. Also Dutch art, the Bruegel family, and Elizabethan visual culture.
Reader of many novels. DC & Amsterdam.
IRL: professor of art history. Occasionally write things about Rubens. Also Dutch art, the Bruegel family, and Elizabethan visual culture.
Reader of many novels. DC & Amsterdam.
Pinned
Born on this day in 1607, in Antwerp, Cornelis de Bailleur. Painted collections of pictures, but also collections of demons, here with Saint Anthony.
February 5, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Born on this day in 1607, in Antwerp, Cornelis de Bailleur. Painted collections of pictures, but also collections of demons, here with Saint Anthony.
Proud Dutch ships ramming the Spanish galleys off the Flemish coast, October 1602. Sea combat immortalized in 1617 by Hendrick Cornelisz. Vroom, whose day is today.
February 4, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Proud Dutch ships ramming the Spanish galleys off the Flemish coast, October 1602. Sea combat immortalized in 1617 by Hendrick Cornelisz. Vroom, whose day is today.
Woah! Dramatic explosion of the Spanish flagship during the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607, as depicted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. It's his day today.
February 4, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Woah! Dramatic explosion of the Spanish flagship during the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607, as depicted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. It's his day today.
Big excitement in 1632: the arrival at Vlissingen of Elector Palatinate Frederick V. Splendidly recorded by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, whose day is today.
February 4, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Big excitement in 1632: the arrival at Vlissingen of Elector Palatinate Frederick V. Splendidly recorded by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, whose day is today.
View of Delft. About half a century earlier than The Other One & painted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. Today is his day.
February 4, 2026 at 3:36 PM
View of Delft. About half a century earlier than The Other One & painted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. Today is his day.
Dutch & Spanish ships fighting it out on the Haarlemmermeer, w/ besieged city in distance. Painted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. It’s his day today.
February 4, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Dutch & Spanish ships fighting it out on the Haarlemmermeer, w/ besieged city in distance. Painted by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom. It’s his day today.
Died (alas!) on this day in 1640, in Haarlem, Hendrick Cornelisz. Vroom. Here very alive and looking slightly wild, drawn by David Bailly.
February 4, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Died (alas!) on this day in 1640, in Haarlem, Hendrick Cornelisz. Vroom. Here very alive and looking slightly wild, drawn by David Bailly.
Teaser: whose distant city, and what’s happening there?
February 4, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Teaser: whose distant city, and what’s happening there?
Couple, asleep. From Jan Steen, at the end of his day. Good night!
February 4, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Couple, asleep. From Jan Steen, at the end of his day. Good night!
Peek through a grand arch & into the lady's bedroom -- your eye is heartily invited by Jan Steen. Died OTD in 1679, alas!
February 4, 2026 at 12:26 AM
Peek through a grand arch & into the lady's bedroom -- your eye is heartily invited by Jan Steen. Died OTD in 1679, alas!
Pleasures on the ice outside a Dutch town, in the thin light of a winter afternoon. Skating, slipping, and big beer tents because it's by Jan Steen, whose day is today.
February 3, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Pleasures on the ice outside a Dutch town, in the thin light of a winter afternoon. Skating, slipping, and big beer tents because it's by Jan Steen, whose day is today.
Delightfully degenerate household: cares of the world hang overhead but everyone (esp. duck) is relentlessly having a jolly time because it’s Jan Steen. Today is his day.
February 3, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Delightfully degenerate household: cares of the world hang overhead but everyone (esp. duck) is relentlessly having a jolly time because it’s Jan Steen. Today is his day.
The itinerant dentist pulling teeth. Agony! Always good for a laugh in the Dutch Golden Age. Here by Jan Steen, whose day is today.
February 3, 2026 at 5:22 PM
The itinerant dentist pulling teeth. Agony! Always good for a laugh in the Dutch Golden Age. Here by Jan Steen, whose day is today.
Feast of St. Nicolaas. One boy was naughty, and got coals in his shoe, and everybody laughs at him crying. A bit of family cruelty in the cause of discipline, as shown by Jan Steen.
February 3, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Feast of St. Nicolaas. One boy was naughty, and got coals in his shoe, and everybody laughs at him crying. A bit of family cruelty in the cause of discipline, as shown by Jan Steen.
As the old sing, so the young pipe: bad habits passed from generation to generation in the uproar of a Jan Steen household, 1665. Today is Steen's day.
February 3, 2026 at 1:56 PM
As the old sing, so the young pipe: bad habits passed from generation to generation in the uproar of a Jan Steen household, 1665. Today is Steen's day.
3Died (alas!) on this day in 1679, the incomparable Jan Steen. Here by himself, skeptical, in 1670. Could always find humor in the world. We need him today!
February 3, 2026 at 12:31 PM
3Died (alas!) on this day in 1679, the incomparable Jan Steen. Here by himself, skeptical, in 1670. Could always find humor in the world. We need him today!
Teaser: roses before whose swine?
February 3, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Teaser: roses before whose swine?
Snowy landscape near Antwerp, with house burning down on this side of the river. A common winter danger, back in the day! Here painted in 1575 by Lucas van Valckenborch. Today was his day.
February 3, 2026 at 2:16 AM
Snowy landscape near Antwerp, with house burning down on this side of the river. A common winter danger, back in the day! Here painted in 1575 by Lucas van Valckenborch. Today was his day.
Shoppers at snowy market look a bit anxious. Butcher seems to be threatening one (love her outfit) with his cleaver! Lucas van Valckenborch, 1595.
February 2, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Shoppers at snowy market look a bit anxious. Butcher seems to be threatening one (love her outfit) with his cleaver! Lucas van Valckenborch, 1595.
Humankind was capable of anything, back when we could all talk to one another! But Nimrod's vaulting ambition ruined it all. Tower of Babel by Lucas van Valckenborch, 1594.
February 2, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Humankind was capable of anything, back when we could all talk to one another! But Nimrod's vaulting ambition ruined it all. Tower of Babel by Lucas van Valckenborch, 1594.
Emperor Rudolf II & his brothers, at leisure in the park at Neugebaude, 1587. Local farmer brings gift of flowers. Artist Lucas van Valckenborch records it all from left corner. It’s his day.
February 2, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Emperor Rudolf II & his brothers, at leisure in the park at Neugebaude, 1587. Local farmer brings gift of flowers. Artist Lucas van Valckenborch records it all from left corner. It’s his day.
From the days when winter really meant WINTER: snow in a Flemish village, 1586, by Lucas van Valckenborch. Today is his day.
February 2, 2026 at 7:22 PM
From the days when winter really meant WINTER: snow in a Flemish village, 1586, by Lucas van Valckenborch. Today is his day.
Did nobody tell him how unwise this costume was? Archduke Matthias as Scipio, 1579. By Lucas van Valckenborch whose day is today.
February 2, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Did nobody tell him how unwise this costume was? Archduke Matthias as Scipio, 1579. By Lucas van Valckenborch whose day is today.
Are we all looking forward to Spring? A reminder of its joys from 1587 by Lucas van Valckenborch, whose day is today.
February 2, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Are we all looking forward to Spring? A reminder of its joys from 1587 by Lucas van Valckenborch, whose day is today.
Very cold weather in Antwerp but the skating is good & we've got a fire going on the bank for the non-skaters. By Lucas van Valckenborch, d. OTD 1597.
February 2, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Very cold weather in Antwerp but the skating is good & we've got a fire going on the bank for the non-skaters. By Lucas van Valckenborch, d. OTD 1597.