RUBENS, Peter Paul
(b. 1577, Siegen, d. 1640, Antwerpen)

Tournament in front of Castle Steen

1635-37
Oil on wood, 72 x 106 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

In his last years Rubens spent the summer months in his country residence, Het Steen, at Elewijt, between Mechelen and Brussels, which he had acquired in August of 1634. There he painted the largest and most luminous landscapes of his entire career; Landscape with Rainbow and Tournament in front of Castle Steen, the latter featuring a wholly imaginary joust. They show us complementary views of a countryside pullulating with human, animal and plant life. They are odes in paint to the natural order of creation, an Arcadian vision of man living in harmony with nature. At Het Steen, Rubens enjoyed the fruits of his long and industrious career, but he also added a new facet to his reputation and ensured his historical influence as a landscape painter. We might cite, in particular, the landscapes of Constable.