Rubens and His Age: Treasures from the Hermitage Museum, Russia

London/Toronto: Merrell Publishers/Art Gallery of Ontario, 2001. Softcover. VG, light wear to cover edges. Black glossy pictorial wraps. 256 pp. profusely illustrated in color and some bw. This catalogue features 183 items, includeing fine and decorative arts, as well as new and exciting scholarship and analysis. Text is in English. "Rubens was the most important and creative Flemish artist of the seventeenth century, attaining wealth, property, rank and international acclaim, not only in the arts but also as an active participant in the world of politics and diplomacy. Painting was just one expression of his genius: he was also a highly respected scholar, connoisseur and collector, and designed prints, books, tapestries, sculpture and some of Antwerp's famed ceremonial architecture. As political and cultural barriers fell, he and his contemporaries, including Anthony van Dyck and Jan Brueghel, travelled throughout Europe when a new demand for Flemish painting arose. As a result, they produced works of art specifically for a wide variety of foreign patrons that included the different European courts, the Church and the most prominent private collectors of the age."--Jacket.