St. Albert of Louvain

1620

Rubens executed this study and 38 more as he prepared to decorate the ceiling of the Jesuit church in Antwerp. It shows a foreshortened saint gliding majestically on a cloud. The bold perspective would have furthered the illusion that the painting was a window in the church's ceiling, offering a view to the sky. The man depicted is the 12th-century martyr Albert of Louvain, patron saint of Archduke Albert, governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)

Date

1620

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

34.7 × 45.8 cm (13 5/8 × 18 in.); Framed: 58.5 × 69.3 × 6.4 cm (23 × 27 1/4 × 2 1/2 in.)

Origin

Flanders

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Bequest of Dr. John J. Ireland