Lonely from the death of his mother, a new affection came into his heart
to sustain and console him. Philip, his brother, now secretary of
Antwerp, had taken as his wife Maria de Moy, whose sister, Clara, much
older, had married a former secretary of Antwerp, Jan Brandt. Their
daughter, Isabella Brandt, was a young woman of attractive face and
sweet disposition. Peter naturally met the niece of his brother Philip's
wife, loved her, and married her October 13, 1609, in the Abbey Church
of St. Michael, when he was thirty-two.
He soon built a house, costing sixty thousand florins, in the Italian
style of architecture, with a spacious studio, and a separate building
or rotunda, like the Pantheon at Rome, lighted from the top, where he
arranged the pictures, marbles, vases, and gems which he had collected
in Italy. Adjoining this he laid out a large garden, planted with
flowers and choice trees.
"The celebrated picture of Rubens and his first wife," says Mr. Kett,
"now in the Pinakothek at Munich, must have been painted within the
first few years of their married life, and is a striking example of the
painter's manner at this period. His calm serenity and thoughtful
expression, combined with beauty and force of character, are well
balanced by the placid contentment and happy dignity of his wife, as the
pair sit under their own vine and fig-tree, prepared to receive their
visitors. There is no affected demonstration of feeling, no bashful
restraint. A couple well-to-do and able to enjoy themselves are happy to
share their pleasure with others."
In 1611, Rubens met with a severe loss in the death of his greatly
beloved brother, Philip. All the seven children of Jans Rubens and Maria
Pypelincx were now dead save Peter Paul.
In 1614, Rubens's heart was made glad by the birth of a son, to whom
Archduke Albert became godfather, and gave him his own name. Four years
later his only other child by Isabella Brandt was born, both of whom
survived their father. A beautiful painting of these two children is now
in the Liechtenstein Gallery, in Vienna.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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