Rubens and His Age: Treasures from the Hermitage Museum, Russia

London and Toronto: Merrell Publishers; Art Gallery of Ontario, 2001. 256 pages, illustrations (chiefly colour), portraits; 28 cm. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Art Gallery of Ontario, May 5 to August 12, 2001. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Age toning. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by special arrangement. Richly illustrated with colour plates. "Rubens was the most important and creative Flemish artist of the seventeenth century, attaining wealth, property, rank and international acclaim, not only in the arts but also as an active participant in the world of politics and diplomacy. Painting was just one expression of his genius: he was also a highly respected scholar, connoisseur and collector, and designed prints, books, tapestries, sculpture and some of Antwerp's famed ceremonial architecture. As political and cultural barriers fell, he and his contemporaries, including Anthony van Dyck and Jan Brueghel, travelled throughout Europe when a new demand for Flemish painting arose. As a result, they produced works of art specifically for a wide variety of foreign patrons that included the different European courts, the Church and the most prominent private collectors of the age." - Publisher. CONTENTS: Art and visual culture in seventeenth-century Flanders, by Christine Go ttler; Flemish paintings from the age of Rubens in the Hermitage Museum, by Natalya Gritsay; Paintings in the exhibition. Rubens and his followers, by Natalya Gritsay; Flemish masters outside the circle of Rubens, by Natalya Babina; Seventeenth-century Flemish drawings in the Hermitage: eighteenth-century taste and collecting, by Alexey Larionov; Seventeenth-century decorative arts in Flanders and Russia, by Tatyana Kossourova.. Paperback. Very Good. 4to.