Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of Isabella Brant

Peter Paul Rubens

Date

c. 1620–25

Medium

oil on wood

Culture

Flanders

Department

European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Isabella Brant was Rubens’s first wife. He painted her many times in many different ways before she died at the age of 35 (she is a model for a nymph in the other work by Rubens in this room). This intimate portrait, painted at least five years before her death, suggests the close relationship between the painter and sitter through the warm palette, the luscious brushstrokes, and her lively expression. First, Rubens painted Isabella’s face, then at a later date he added hands.

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