Peter Paul Rubens and his first wife

Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640

The Honeysuckle Bower -Self Portrait of the Artist with his First Wife Isabella by Peter Paul Rubens (1690)

The Life of Peter Paul Rubens

1577	Peter Paul Rubens is born on 28 July in Siegen, Germany.
1578	The family moves to Cologne.
1587	Death of Jan Rubens, the artist's father.
1589	Rubens's mother, Maria Pypelinckx, returns to Antwerp, where her children Blandina, Filips and Peter Paul attend Rombout Verdonck's Latin school.
1591	Rubens is apprenticed to Tobias Verhaecht.
1592	Trains with Adam van Noort.
1594-95	Moves to the workshop of Otto van Veen.
1598	Becomes a master painter in the Antwerp Guide of St Luke.
1600	Departs for Italy on 9 May. Appointed court painter to Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua.
1601-02	Travels to Rome.
1603	Travels to Spain. Paints Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma (Prado, Madrid)
1604	Returns to Mantua.
1605	Completes three altarpieces for the Jesuit church of Santissima Trinità in Mantua.
1606-08	Returns to Rome. Commissioned to paint a piece for the high altar of the church of S Maria in Vallicella. An initial version is rejected in 1607; the second and final version is completed in 1608.
1608	Death of Rubens's mother. He returns to Antwerp.
1609	Rubens is appointed as court painter to the Archdukes Albert and Isabella in Brussels, but goes on living in Antwerp and establishes a workshop there. On 3 October he marries Isabella Brant. He paints the Adoration of the Magi (Prado, Madrid) and The Artist and His Wife in a Honeysuckle Bower (Alte Pinakothek, Munich).
1610	Begins the Raising of the Cross for the church of St Walburg (now in the Antwerp cathedral). Purchases a house on the Wapper, which he expands to make room for his studio.
1611	Begins work on the Descent from the Cross (for the Antwerp cathedral). His first child, Clara Serena, is born. Death of his brother Filips Rubens.
1614	Birth of Albert, Rubens's first son.
1615-20	Collaborates with Jan Brueghel the Elder and Frans Snyders.
1616	Anthony van Dyck joins his workshop as an assistant.
1618	Birth of Rubens's second son, Nicolaas. Completes Daniel in the Lion's Den, according to a list of works offered for sale. The Decius Mus series of tapestries is woven in Brussels.
1620	Commissioned to produce 39 ceiling paintings on canvas and three altar pieces for the Jesuit church (now St Carlo Borromeo) in Antwerp.
1621	Van Dyck leaves Rubens's studio and goes to England. Rubens receives a commission from Marie de' Medici to produce a cycle of paintings for the Palais de Luxembourg in Paris.
1622-25	Travels to Paris several times to work on the Medici cycle. Meets Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc. Becomes active as a diplomat, negotiating for peace in the Netherlands on behalf of Archduchess Isabella.
1623	Death of his daughter Clara Serena.
1624	Rubens is knighted by Philip IV. He embarks on a secret mission to the northern Netherlands for Archduchess Isabella.
1625	Ceremonial unveiling of the Medici cycle. Meets the Duke of Buckingham in Paris. Begins work on the Assumption of the Virgin for the cathedral in Antwerp.
1626	Death of Isabella Brant.
1627	Travels to Rotterdam, Delft, Amsterdam and Utrecht for secret meetings with Balthasar Gerbier, an agent of the Duke of Buckingham. Begins the Eucharist series for the convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid.
1628	Begins the unfinished Henry IV cycle for the Palais de Luxembourg. Paints Madonna Enthroned with Saints for the Church of St Augustine in Antwerp. Goes on a diplomatic mission to Madrid. Meets Velázquez. Paints the Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV (original lost; copy in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence) and portraits of the royal family. Copies paintings by Titian.
1629	Leaves Madrid on 29 April and travels to England by way of Paris, Brussels and Antwerp to prepare a peace treaty with Spain. Paints Allegory of Peace for Charles I.
1630	Knighted by Charles I before departing for Antwerp in March. Marries Hélène Fourment on 6 December. Begins work on the Ildefonso altarpiece for the church of St Jacques-sur-le-Coudenburg in Brussels (now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
1631	Hosts Marie de' Medici. Travels to The Hague to continue peace negotiations.
1632	Birth of his daughter Clara Johanna.
1633	Birth of his son Frans.
1634	Completes paintings for Banqueting House, Whitehall, London. Designs decorations for the Joyous Entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp. Also paints The Garden of Love around this time.
1635	The cardinal-infante visits Rubens as part of his official entry into Antwerp. Birth of Rubens's daughter Isabella Helena. Rubens purchases the country estate of Het Steen in Elewijt, near Mechelen. Paintings produced around this time includeThe Feast of Venus, Portrait of Hélène Fourment in a Fur Wrap and various landscapes, such as View of Het Steen in the Early Morning.
1636	Appointed as court painter to Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in Brussels. Commissioned by Philip IV to decorate the royal hunting lodge of Torre de la Parada.
1637	Birth of his son, Peter Paul. Receives commission for theCrucifixion of St Peter for the Church of St Peter in Cologne.
1638	The Horrors of War is sent to Florence (Galleria Pitti, Florence).
1639	Paints The Judgment of Paris for Philip IV (Prado, Madrid) and, around the same time, his late self-portrait.
1640	On 17 May he makes a will. Rubens dies on 30 May and is buried on 2 June.