Disrobing the Obscurity of Het Pelsken
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
In 1638, the Flemish artist and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens dedicated his painting Het Pelsken or The Little Fur to his second wife, Helena Fourment. This sensual, yet intimate full-length portrait captures the painter’s wife in an untraditional and highly erotic manner. Many scholars tend to focus their interpretations on the sexual aspects of the painting. Instead, this paper serves to reveal the additional indicators throughout Het Pelsken that allude to Rubens’ own response to the religious conflicts and gender ideas prevalent in Northern Europe during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Anne Muraoka
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Disciplines
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture
Session Title
Art History 1
Location
Learning Commons @ Perry Library Conference Room 1306
Start Date
2-2-2019 9:00 AM
End Date
2-2-2019 10:00 AM
Disrobing the Obscurity of Het Pelsken
Learning Commons @ Perry Library Conference Room 1306
In 1638, the Flemish artist and diplomat Peter Paul Rubens dedicated his painting Het Pelsken or The Little Fur to his second wife, Helena Fourment. This sensual, yet intimate full-length portrait captures the painter’s wife in an untraditional and highly erotic manner. Many scholars tend to focus their interpretations on the sexual aspects of the painting. Instead, this paper serves to reveal the additional indicators throughout Het Pelsken that allude to Rubens’ own response to the religious conflicts and gender ideas prevalent in Northern Europe during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.