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Rubens with his Wife and Child

1740–65
Not on view
Rubens enjoyed a high reputation in Great Britain throughout the eighteenth century, and prints after his work were published in large numbers. McArdell's mezzotint of Rubens's own family was the first of two such prints published in London after the charming domestic subject; the other was by Charles Phillips. This print is a proof, without lettering, made available for collectors aside from the main edition and one of the latter is also in the Met's collection (24.63.107). The large full-length group portrait was first owned by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722), it then remained in the family through the late nineteenth century and is now in the Met's collection (1981.238). The artist, his wife Helena, and one of their sons appear within an idealized version of the garden at Rubens's mansion in Antwerp, which survives to this day.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Rubens with his Wife and Child
  • Engraver: James McArdell (Irish, Dublin 1729–1765 London)
  • Artist: After Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
  • Sitter: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
  • Sitter: Helena Fourment (Flemish, Antwerp 1614–1673 Brussels)
  • Sitter: Frans Rubens (Flemish, Antwerp 1633–1678)
  • Date: 1740–65
  • Medium: Mezzotint; first state of two; proof before letters
  • Dimensions: Sheet (Trimmed): 20 1/16 × 14 3/16 in. (51 × 36 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
  • Object Number: 51.501.7538
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Rubens, Helena Fourment (1614–1673), and Their Son Frans (1633–1678)
Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, Siegen 1577–1640 Antwerp)
ca. 1635
Lord William Blakeney (1692–1761), James McArdell Irish, Enamel on copper, British, possibly South Staffordshire
Lord William Blakeney (1692–1761)
Engraver oval portrait based on print by James McArdell
oval portrait after George Chalmers
ca. 1756–61
Weymouth Bay, David Lucas British, Mezzotint on chine collé; progress proof
Weymouth Bay
David Lucas
After John Constable
1830
The Right Honorable Henry Fox, Esr., James McArdell Irish, Mezzotint
The Right Honorable Henry Fox, Esr.
Engraver James McArdell
After Jean Etienne Liotard
Sitter Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland
1756
Junkernboden, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner German, Color woodcut, working proofs recto and verso; recto: black ink with traces of yellow and green ink and wax crayon; verso: black, pink, dark red, and two shades of green ink
Junkernboden
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1919

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