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Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), The Holy Family With Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist, c 1615, Flemish. Oil on panel. 114.5 x 91.5 cm. Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ill (http://www.artic.edu); photograph © 2001, The Art Institute of Chicago; Major Acquisition Endowment.

Eugene Delacroix was one of his greatest admirers, yet in his private journal he described the pictures of his Flemish predecessor, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), as being like "public meetings where everybody talks at once." It is an apt description; it applies not only to the paintings, but to the man, his studio, his entire career. Like his paintings, he often seemed larger than life. His appetites were enormous, his capacity for work seemingly unlimited, his output prodigious. His love for all things—family, country, goodness, beauty—was equally unlimited. One suspects he loved many things for no reason other than that they existed; . . . [Full Text of this Article]