Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – A remarkable discovery has been made in the art world: an exceptional and newly identified painting by Peter Paul Rubens, titled Bearded Old Man, Looking Down to His Left (c.1609), is being presented at the prestigious BRAFA Art Fair.
This powerful head study depicts a bald, bearded man with his head gently bowed and his gaze lowered, showcasing Rubens’ mastery of technique through dense impasto on the nose and skull contrasted with more transparent areas elsewhere. The result is a strikingly immediate image that emerges from darkness with almost sculptural presence.
Credit: Public Domain
What makes this work particularly fascinating is a hidden detail on its reverse side: the faint silhouette of a woman’s head subtly shimmers through the beard. This reuse of material highlights Rubens’ experimental approach to composition and process, demonstrating his playful intelligence as an artist.
Such studies were far from simple exercises; they served as visual reservoirs for Rubens, providing inspiration for figures that appear throughout his oeuvre—including Saint Amand(us) in The Elevation of the Cross (Antwerp), Saint Thomas in Apostolado de Lerma (Madrid), Melchior in The Adoration of the Magi, and others.
You can clearly see the woman when the painting is turned upside down. Credit: Public Domain
These spontaneous head studies formed Rubens’ private archive—a living storehouse of character and emotion that he drew upon repeatedly in major compositions. They reveal not only his technical skill but also his ability to achieve expressive force with minimal means. Accompanied by authentication from Ben Van Beneden, this painting offers new insight into Rubens’ creative process; notably, it has yet to be published or widely studied.
Peter Paul Rubens, Brief History
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) is recognized as the leading figure of the Flemish Baroque tradition and a key representative of Baroque painting’s energy, vitality, and expressive richness. Born in Siegen, Westphalia, and raised in Antwerp, Rubens received a humanist education that included Latin and classical literature before apprenticing with three artists: Tobias Verhaecht, Adam van Noort, and Otto van Veen. In 1598, he became an independent master within Antwerp’s Guild of St. Luke.
A pivotal period in Rubens’s development was his eight-year stay in Italy from 1600 to 1608. While serving at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga in Mantua, he traveled widely throughout Italy. There, he absorbed influences from Venetian painters such as Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto; studied Caravaggio’s naturalism; and learned from Michelangelo’s and Raphael’s monumental forms. This experience enabled him to blend Flemish realism with Italian Renaissance grandeur into a distinctive style.
Upon returning to Antwerp in 1608, Rubens was appointed court painter to the Spanish governors of Flanders. He established a highly productive workshop that created over 1,400 works during his career. His signature Baroque style featured dynamic movement, vivid color palettes, sensuous figures, and dramatic lighting—qualities that defined Counter-Reformation religious art while also excelling across mythological subjects, historical scenes, portraits, and landscapes.
In addition to his artistic achievements, Rubens played an important diplomatic role for European courts and was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. His legacy influenced generations of artists—including Anthony van Dyck, through Pierre-Auguste Renoir—and helped shape European art movements such as Rococo, Romanticism, and Impressionism.
Source: BRAFA Art Fair
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer