Peter Paul Rubens: The Drawings (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications) Book

A magnificent selection of drawings by one of the greatest artists of the seventeenth century

For the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577â??1640), drawing was a fundamental activity. Ranging from delightful renderings of children and elegant portraits of noblemen and women to vigorous animal studies and beautiful landscapes, Rubensâ??s drawings are renowned for their superb quality and variety.

This exquisite book presentsâ??in beautiful full-color reproductionsâ??more than one hundred of the finest and most representative of Rubensâ??s drawings, from private and public collections around the world. Essays by Anne-Marie Logan and Michiel C. Plomp provide overviews of Rubensâ??s career as a draftsman and of the dispersal of his drawings among collectors after his death. The authors discuss the various functions of Rubensâ??s drawings as preparatory studies for paintings, sculpture, architecture, prints, and book illustrations. The volume also includes a sampling of the artistâ??s early anatomical studies and copies after antique sculpture as well as several sheets by other artists that Rubens retouched, restored, or reworked.

This publication accompanies an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (January 14 to April 3, 2005)â??the most comprehensive exhibition of Rubensâ??s drawings ever held in the United States.

Anne-Marie Logan is Guest Research Curator and Michiel C. Plomp is Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.