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

Dance of Italian Villagers

c. 1636
Oil on wood, 73 x 106 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

This scene is set, like the Flemish Kermis, against a timeless natural background. In this painting Rubens transposes the bucolic spirit of contemporary mythological compositions into the ambiance of popular genre subject matter. Several of the figures are dressed "all' antica" and Bacchus himself is dancing in a landscape which with its Italianate architectural elements creates a distinctly Arcadian impression.




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