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Other than Godly paintings, Rubens painted pagan Gods. Ever since the renaissance, mythical paintings have been extremely popular.  The first painting shows the Goddess Thetis and Minerva. Both are sitting on top of globes for some reason. Well, Thetis is more of a minor goddess or a nymph. Her symbol, the row, is by her side. She also wears her queenly crown. She is the ruler of all the ocean water nymphs. Minerva is the goddess of justice. She sports a warrior spear and helmet. She is a warrior goddess, far stronger than Mars. In this scene, Thetis is asking Minerva to do justice for Achilles. Meaning, that the Greeks will loose until Achilles gets his slave back.

 The next painting features Heraclito Prado. He is a very sad Greek philosopher. He sits in a classical pose of sorrow. He wears black mourning attires.  He is meditating on his pains inside a cave. Most high minded people are cavemen. Hehehhehe.

This painting is called "The Peace of Angers". On the floor, we see some fire arms and armor. They are being burned by peace. Behind, her we see some blind furies raging. They wield snakes and fire. An old woman and a young maiden are being led to the image of the virgin. The one leading them is Hermes, messenger of the gods. He is pointing to the Virgin Mary with his caduceus staff. This is a complicated painting. Moreover, its a symposium of Catholicism, contemporary and Greek ideals. The temple looks pretty cool. The clouds look epic as well. 

The next painting shows a Roman profile of Tiberius and Agrippina. Agrippina is the one of most importance. For this reason, her profile is the first. She was the second daughter of Emperor Augustus.  It so happens that she got in trouble with Tiberius. It was all a horrible bloody roman massacre. She also comes first because she is a women. Rubens had a preference for painting lovely blonde maidens. The profile of Agrippina is quite beautiful. Tiberius is also a handsome devil. 

The next painting shows the three Graces. These Graces represent the ideals of female beauty. This trio was not sold to anyone. Rubens painted them for his own amusement. It remained in his studio until his death, in the year 1666. I must say that this is a really hot painting. When you are fitly rich you can afford to paint something for your own amusement. These maidens look realistic. Rubens payed a lot of attention to the flesh to make it look real. The effect is perfected in the pressing down of the arms, and the folds of the flesh. This trio are inside the garden of Venus. A golden Cupid statue with a horn is pouring water. I think that is all worth mentioning.

This painting is called "Venus Frigida".  This means cold Venus. Here we see Venus and her Cupid looking depressing. A Faun with flowers is about to pet Venus. He wishes to distract her from her woes. The stage light only falls on Venus and her Cupid. They stand out against the darkness. The background shows some trees, a river and mount. The sun is about to rise. This is not the usual way to paint Venus. She is hunched in a corner. Her figure is quite idealistic in a down to earth fashion. What I like best is her loose blonde hair. I think that is all worth mentioning.

The next painting shows Venus and Adonis. Venus shares this boy toy with Persephone. Adonis is about to depart on his hunt. His hunting dogs are exiting Venus's cart. Behind Venus, two swans are kissing. These birds French kiss like the humans.  Venus is detaining him, with the help of her son. It looks very cute. Adonis is gazing upon Venus pleading eyes. He is gently releasing himself from Venus's embrace. The scenery looks pretty cute.

This painting is called "Venus at her Toilet". In the old days, the toilet was the name given to the place where maidens groomed themselves. They bathed and dressed in their toilets. In this painting Cupid is holding up the mirror for her Mama. Venus hairstyle is up to date with the Baroque Flemish fashion. She is wrapped in a lovely red cashmere coat. Her child has next to him his bow and quiver. The painting has strong chiaroscuro. Its unidentified source of light bears semblance to Caravaggio's stage light effect. This kind of lighting helps you be done quickly with backgrounds.

The next painting shows Venus, Cupid, Bacchus and Ceres. These are the more peaceful deities. Ceres is the goddess of grain. Bacchus of wine. They all have their symbols on them. Ceres has her grain. Venus has her red drapery. Her Cupid his wings and Bacchus his wine and grapes.  They are all simply hanging out together with Bacchus. Even the Gods like to relax from time to time. 

The next painting shows the triumph of truth. Truth is the daughter of Time. Here Time is taking her daughter up to Victory. She is about to be crowned by Zeus and Hera. You see, Truth is always in a bind. Only her father Time, can save her. Time always appears in the form of a winged old man. He is always keeping track of his daughter Truth. I like this painting a lot. It is really cool.

The next painting is a modello for a tapestry series. It features events of the life of Achilles. The first painting shows Thetis dipping her son into the River Styx. This will make her son immortal. However, the heel she was using to hold her child was not dipped into the River Styx. Behind her, Lachesis is guiding her. Lachesis is the Fate that measures the length of each person's life. Her symbol is a ball of yarn. Between the Persephone and Hades columns, we see Cerberus. He is in the form of a regular 3 headed dog. On the background, we see Charon ferrying souls across the river Styx. Its a pretty complete painting.

In the next painting, Thetis has gone to get Achilles's new armor from Vulcan. Achilles needed a new armor because Hector had taken it from Patroclus' body. Her nymph servants are helping her carry the armor. She is receiving herself the new fancy  shield. The column Gods are Hera and Zeus. Between them we seer Vulcan's anvil. Behind Thetis I see a Peacock, that is Hera's symbol. By the Zeus column, we see lighting. I think that is everything worth mentioning.

The next painting shows Two Satyrs. These beings usually hang out with Bacchus. The first Satyrs has a drunken naughty look. He almost looks like he is about to fall forward. Behind him, his friends is drinking wine. Both do look really drunk. This painting has Satyrs in two poses. One in frontal profile and the other at a 3/4 angel. Its more of a study of drunken faces.

The next painting has Venus ,again, at her toilette. A black slave is fixing Venus' hair. I love how the mirror is set in a way that we can see Venus' reflection. This painting is arranged in a way the emphasize Venus' lovely golden hair and body. 

The next painting shows Venus wrapped in a Fur Coat. This maiden is actually Rubens second wife. She was 16 when she married the guy. This painting hung in their bed room. Pretty perverted if you ask me. Well, this is a pretty painting. She is wearing only on pearl earring and the fur coat. He copied this from Vermeer. 

The next painting show Pythagoras. He was a Greek Philosopher that Advocated vegetarianism. He was the first western Vegetarian. Beside him, a maiden is cutting down some fruits from the tree. She personifies the healthy vegetarian lifestyle. She got this pretty by eating nothing but fruits. Before her we see a lot of tasty fruits. The all look very yummy. On the right we see the wild vegetarians. In Flemish clothing, we see some guys that are listening to Pythagoras. I like this forest painting a lot. The fruits do look delicious.

The next painting shows Mars being crowned by Victory or Nike. Here Mars appears as the champion of Virtue. She is sitting next to him. Mars is standing over her in a offensive stance. If anyone  tries to harm Virtue he will get grafted like a fish. Those were the good old days, back when war meant something... Victory has the loveliest of hairstyle. Both Virtue and Victory are blonde maidens. As for Mar, he is wearing a black metal plate roman armor. I think he looks very cool. The first guy he defeated was drunkenness. You can tell because near him lies some grapes. Behind them a random person is cowering.

The next painting shows the epic fight between Achilles and Hector. It so happens that Achilles threw his spear in the same place that Hector had struck to slay Patroclus. Talk about sweet vengeance. Behind them the armies are raging.  The column Gods are Mars and Herakles. Behind Achilles we see Athena in her owl form. Behind Hector soars Apollo. It is a battle among Olympians. On the side of Hector, we see the Trojan walls. On the side of Achilles, we see his doomsday horses. His horses are Gods. The furies spoke through the horses told him that he was going to die in the war. I think that is all worth mentioning. 

The last painting shows Democrito and Heraclito. Both of these Greek philosophers are resting on top of the globe. By now, the Europeans accepted the theory that the earth was round. The part of the globe that we can see shows Europe. Anyhow, Democrito represents the government and Heraclito represents the church. Lets just wrap things up. 

Well, lets get this show on the road. This painting shows the death of Achilles. He had gone to the temple of Apollo to make an offering. By this time he had conquered Troy. Behind him Apollo is guiding Paris. Paris has just shot through Achilles's heel. Its pretty cool how Achilles is dying. The poison and death is spreading from the leg to the rest of the body. He has just fallen and he already has the shadow of death. The man with the flower crown is the former king of Troy. The corner Gods are Venus with her cupid and Apollo with the death serpent. This means that love has slain him. Achilles here was in the process of marrying one of Priam's daughters. Anyhow, both Gods use arrows. In the center, a fox is devouring an eagle. The witty eating the mighty. All these elements add to the intensity of this stupid way of dying. Wait, didn't Achilles defile the temple of Apollo? It seems Apollo did not forgive him for that.

The next painting shows Diana Presenting the Catch to Pan. Diana is a hunter virgin Goddess. She gets along with the lech Pan. He brought her vegetarian food. Behind Pan, we see all his faun friends. Diana has some pretty cool hunting dogs. She has a few Amazons helping her carry the dead rabbits.  Both represent hunting and gathering. However, the roles are inverse. This time the women are the hunters and the men the gatherers. The spear separates both genders. Its a curious painting coming from a Catholic country.

 The next painting is called "Drunken Silenus". Silenus is another name for Bacchus. On the floor, we see a faun mother feeding her two chubby goat kids. Selenus is simply stumbling all over the place. There are drunk people everywhere. You only see these things these days at a frat party. What I like best is how the black slave is pinching Silenus' behind.

The next painting is simple enough. It shows the Head of Medusa. Pretty realistic too if you ask me. There is an entire assortment of poisonous snakes. From her neck, baby snakes are coming out.

The next painting shows Hygeia, Goddess of Health. You see, from the poison of snakes many cures are derived. For this reason, she has the healing snake with her. She is pouring in medicine into the mouth of the snake.  Her clothing are red is reference to the life blood. 

The next painting is called Juno and Argus. Juno is the goddess of marriage, wife of Zeus. Her symbol is the peacock. Argus is the Titan that has many eyes. She has just slain the beast and is taking his eyes to put it on her peacocks. Pretty sick if you ask me. Several of her attendants are helping her with this task.

The next painting is called Nature adorning the Three Graces. Nature is around the three graces in the form of food and vegetables. Several Fauns and Amazons are also adorning the Graces. The Graces themselves are adorning the statue of Nature. They are putting flowers and a veil over her. There are a lot of pleasant things to look at in this painting. The view of nature is derived from an ancient description of the Nature Goddess. In the tree tops, we see some wild men. I think that is all worth mentioning.

The next painting is called "Diana and Callisto".  Callisto was one of Diana's nymph. She had to remain a Virgin to be in the clear with Diana. However, Zeus disguised himself as Diana and slept with Callisto. Here Callisto is just returning to Diana all in shame. The nymphs look worried about her. Diana (the blonde being bathed by a black slave) was in the middle of her bath when Callisto arrived. 

The next painting is called "Diana and her nymphs surprised by fauns".  The fauns are always trying to get crazy with the nymphs. Something about tasting the forbidden fruit. The only one not fleeing is Diana. She is about to throw a spear at one of the fauns. This event is parallel to the happenings in Vatican city during the baroque period. That is another interesting story in of itself.

The next painting is called " The Feast of Venus". Here we see three kinds of love. The faun is wild love, the poet is refined love and the hunter is crafty love. They represent three ways of wooing maidens. These three couples are dancing in front of fountain of Venus. There Venus sits next to her Cupid. All around the scenery we see Cupids flying about. Its pretty neat.

The next painting is called " Hero and Leander".  This is a love story. Hero was a maiden that lived in a far away island. Her lover Leander would swim across the ocean to see her. One night there was a storm and he drowned. You see, Hero used to light a fire for him to find his way across. However, the wind that night kept putting it out. In this painting, the water nymphs are keeping his body afloat. Hero has just seen his dead body and has thrown herself off her tower. Hero here is the maiden in red falling head first into the water. This painting is really quite dramatic. The water is in turmoil.

The next painting is called "Jupiter and Callisto". Jupiter ,in the shape of Diana, is wooing Callisto. Callisto has the arrows as a symbol. Behind Jupiter we see his eagle with the lightning bolts between his claws. The scene is taking in a forest at twilight. Pretty neat it you ask me. That Zeus is quite the rascal. I guess there are advantages of being a shape shifter God.

The next painting is called "Mars and Rhea Silvia". Rhea Silvia is the mother of Romulus and Remus. She was a Vestal Virgin and had sworn to be celibate for 30 years. She claimed that Mars was the  father of her children. Here Mars has just entered the temple to see Rhea. Mars is being guided by Cupid. Both do look very cute together. She is surprised at his sudden appearance. Then again, she became Celibate against her will. An evil king made her into a Vestal virgin to kill the kingship line from her side of the family. She was able to give birth to the two roman kings via Mars' interception.

The next painting is called "Mercury and Argus". Mercury has just put Argus asleep. He wanted to save Io who had been turned into a cow by Hera. When Hera saw Argus sleeping on the job she slew him and decorated her peacock with his eyes. She is one evil, jealous lady.

Above, we see Prometheus. Basically, he was the only Titan on the side of the Gods. He got angry when the other Titans made fun of his brain smarts. Out of vengeance, he guided the Gods to defeat the Titans. He is mostly known for giving fire to mankind. This fire he stole from the Gods. Here we see Prometheus's punishment. He was to be bound to a rock and a phoenix would eternally devour his liver. In other version, it is a hungry vulture. In Ruben's painting we see a vulture. Close to the bottom left, we see the torch of fire, the symbol of Prometheus. The landscape is rather fancy. To emphasize Prometheus helplessness he gave the Titan a super pumped up body. However, this massive Titan lies helpless.

In the old days, rape meant kidnapping. Well, in this case rape means rape. Basically, we see a scene from an ancient Roman myth. These two guys are twins. I think they might be the wolf mother twins. They fell in love with these two sisters. They where engaged to two other twins. The painting is quite dynamic. The wild horses led by Cupid shows the passion these brothers felt for the ladies. To show off, Rubens painted the ladies in an unusual nude angle. Most of the time the female nudes where frontal. Rubens twisted and contorted their forms for the effect. The background is landscape style of Holland. They made great emphasis on the sky.

You guys, hopefully, are familiar with Roman charity. I spoke about it in a different Rubens blog. This theme was really popular during the Counter Reformation. The maiden stands for the charity of the church that takes care of sinners. The color red is for love and passion. Back here stands for old age and wickedness. I like this version a lot. The maiden looks very tenderly at her old man. You know, during Ruben's time it was usually the daughter that took care of their old man. This image shows a love and devotion that the people of Ruben's time would be familiar with.

The next painting shows the twins Remus and Romulus. They are the founders of Rome. Legend has it that they where raised by a wolf mother. Here a Roman soldier dressed like a knight discovers the twins. Both golden babies look really cute. On the far left, a nymph and her father are watching over the twins. It is interesting how a little bird is bringing food to one of the babies. On the meantime, the wolf is watching over her care. I liked the two fishes near the river. The forest scenery was pretty neat.

Saturn is another name for Chronos. His symbol is the scythe. He is the Titan that ate his children. In this painting he is munching on his latest victim. You got to admit that the child's pained face looks realisitc. I can really believe that his old man is eating him. Well, we are all familiar with evil old geezers that such the life out of their young children.

The next painting shows a cold Venus and her Cupid. She is trying to get warm while her Cupid prepares the fire. They are in a garden. Behind the bushes I see a lake. I think that is everything worth mentioning.

Most imagine that Zeus was only into chicks. Here he has taken to his crib the beautiful Ganymede. Hera did not mind the new kid. She only cares when Zeus cheats on her with other women. Anyhow, Zeus wore his eagle form to get the guy he liked. He gave Ganymede a permanent position among the Olympians. He is the cup bearer. He pours for them the Ambrosia that renews the God powers of the Olympians. As he arrived, Ganymede received the cup from two goddess. Behind him we see the banquet hall of the Gods.

Basically, Syrinx was a chaste nymph of Artemis. Pan liked the maiden and used to chase after her. One day he cornered her by the river. She asked the river nymphs for aid. They turned her into hollow water reeds. Pan annoyed took some of those reeds and made himself the instrument we always see him playing. In this painting , Pan has finally caught the nymph. He is taking off part of her dress. She in turn is trying to cover herself. The scenery is really neat. There are a lot of different flowers near the river. The birds are a nice detail.

During ancient Greek times, people fled to the meadows to do whatever they felt like. This couple are like our modern day hippies. Living in the wild and expressing their love whenever they feel like. That strange leg position is called the swan leg maneuver. It was a very popular courting mating ritual during the old days. When you see in painting someone with their legs as above, you can pretty much tell what is going to happen next. Pretty cute painting if you ask me. In this one, it was the main who initiated the courtship. Whoever has the leg locked highest is the one who began the courtship. The maiden seems to be pushing the shepherd away. Yet with her leg, she has completed the swan leg maneuver. Thus, she is playing hard to get. 

In this painting, we see Peace and Abundance. Peace is the maiden in golden. Abundance is the maiden with the fruits and the red and blue dress. Interesting enough, those are the colors of the Virgin Mary. Behind them, we see a drawing of the Baldacchino of the Vatican. This seems to allude that the Catholic church seems to be at peace with the world. Like these two loving maidens, they finally calmed down... for the time being. Well, lets move right along. 

This is the aftermath of Perseus epic battle against the Kraken. He is being crowned by Victory. Some cherub helpers took off his war helmet and Medusa shield. They are also tending to Pegasus. Andromeda is also being clothed by the cherubs. Perseus seems to be in the middle of one of those infamous, " I saved you, Princes" speeches. Rescuing maiden's in distress is an ancient tradition. These days women have to help themselves. At the feat of Perseus we see the dead Kraken.

In this version, Perseus has just won. He is freeing Andromeda. She looks very happy to be set free by a handsome stud. One of the cherubs is introducing Andromeda to Perseus. The other kid is holding the torch of Victory. In the background, we see the sea. I like Perseus black Legionnaire armor. By the far bottom left, we see the Medusa shield and Perseus helmet. I think that is everything worth mentioning.

By now, you figured out that the Perseus and Andromeda theme was really popular. Again, we see Perseus, the cherubs and Pegasus. Those Cherubs are like our modern day chibis. They were there just to be cute.

In the old days, still life where just starting to get popular. However, many where still reluctant to just paint fruits alone. The main focus of the painting is the Fruits Basket. It appeals to our sense of sight and taste. The satyr and the girl are there just for fun. If you notice, the fruits are grapes and pomegranates. The grapes stand for drunkenness and the pomegranate for the original sin. Put two and two together and you get quite the party. Needless to say, we all know what both these weirdos are about to do.

The theme of this painting is rather simple. Here Bacchus is courting Venus. She however is not into the drunk guy. Her little Cupid is leading her away from him. As per tradition, Bacchus is offering her gifts to  melt away her cold heart. He first offered her gold. She disliked them, we see them discarded on the ground. Now, Bacchus and his attendants are offering Venus his harvest. One of the servants of Bacchus is looking directly at the viewer.

For being a simple sketch, this little number is quite elaborate. Here we see several Olympians. On the top right, I see Zeus and Hera. The old geezer and the lady are Time and Truth. I feel bad for Time. He is always having to rescue his little girl. It is an interesting concept.

In this painting, several Cherubs are tending to the Ceres statue. She is the goddess of grain and Summer. She represents the abundance of summer. These kids are adorning the statue with a wreath of fruits. They are her symbol. Rubens mimic here the fashion that the Greeks loved to depict their statues. She has a classical  contraposte stance. The kids, however, are more Hellenistic. I think that is everything worth mentioning.

The story goes that Terseus had raped this maiden. When she had spoken out against his crime. He cut the head of her baby. Her sisters in revenge had him eat the head of his son for dinner. Now, the furies are confronting him with the head of the baby. You got to admit that this is one seriously morbid story. The blonde maiden is the mother. The woman behind her is a fury. Pretty creepy if you ask me. Let us end this blog in this sour note. You got to admit that this last painting was pretty cool.   

This painting relates to the birth of the founder of Athens. Basically, Mars hated Athena's guts. Since Athena was a Virginal Goddess he wanted to have a baby with her to get revenge. He tried jumping her, however, his seed was spilled on the ground. Instead, it was Gaea who bore Mars' kid. Athena took pity on the kid an took him to her city. She had forbidden the daughters of the king from opening the basket where the baby laid. However, the maidens driven by curiosity opened the basket. They were appalled to see that the baby had a snake's tail.

In this painting, the maidens have just opened the basket. The fountain behind them shows a depiction of Gaea, the mother of the child. A child is asking his mama about the baby. The old woman is actually Athena in disguise. She liked to dress up like an old woman whenever she came to the human world. She is looking at the viewer. Behind the maiden in red, we see a statue of Pan. He stands for madness. He is there to allude to the madness that is about to befall the maidens that disobeyed Athena's orders.

This next painting shows a very drunk Hercules. This is like the 5th Drunk guy painting I see. Here the strong man Hercules is so drunk he can barely stand. At his feet we some flutes, bells and grapes. These items where a common sight in Bacchus's Bacchanals. The Bacchanal was a party in the honor of Bacchus. A lot of people got drunk and acted crazy. Here Hercules is being held up by two fauns. Another one is wearing his lion pelt while a cherub kid takes his club.

This painting depicts the tragic demise of Phaeton. Phaeton was the son of Apollo. However, none of his human friends believed him. One day, he asks his father to lend him his carriage. Thus, all would see that he was the son of Apollo. While he was riding it, he lost control of the horses. Thus, they brought the sun in an erratic path. In this painting, Phaeton is scorching the constellations. They are fleeing the burning sun. To knock him down, Zeus had to smite him with his lightning bolt. Only then was Apollo able to calm his horses down. The man wearing red, falling from the carriage, is Phaeton. The horses are all over the place. The Constellations are frightened.

In this painting, we see Constantine overlooking the ruins of the Byzantium Empire. He choose the place as the new Capital because it was close to the Asia, the Persians and Italy. Thus, it was at an strategic location. Here he is talking with two Greek slaves. They are going over the floor plans of the new city. Behind him, one of his advisers is looking on. Constantine is in the traditional Roman stance that the politicians took when giving a speech. Above the group, we see an eagle biting a snake. It also has some grain. The eagle is the sign of Zeus and of power. The snake is treachery. The grain stands for prosperity. Thus, might has overcome the enemies of Constantine and prosperity will reign over this ruined city. In the background, we see the workers rebuilding.

This next painting show The Four Continents.  They are Europe, Asia, Africa and America. By now they had already discovered America. The Crocodile represents the River Nile.  The Tigers are more of an Asian thing, specially in India. One got attacked often by Tigers in India. Those with the water basins represent other rivers. I am not too certain about the symbolism in this painting. I think the black chick is also a representative of Africa. She is being hugged by the River Nile. The other guy next to her, with his hand on his face, is a representation of a Native American. He is the God of "El Rio Plate" or the Silver river. The old geezer at the far right is Danube. He is a Greek River God. This is all I have to say about this elaborate little mess. As usual, there are a few cherubs decorating the scene.

In this painting, we see a very proud Mars. He is being crowned by Victory. He is sitting over his vanquished foes. He has his sight over the horizon in a most epic fashion. His sword is resting on the lap of Victory.  His black armor looks really cool. The guy in the foreground has the blueish shadow of death. The guy behind him is still a live. One of the captives is kissing Mars's leg. On his right side, we see Cupid cowering behind him. There is no room for love in an epic Victory. I like the symbols in the carriage. It is a snake twisting around some fruits. Kinda like the abundance of death. Pretty cool if you ask me.

This lovely painting, show The Wedding of Thetis. Basically, Thetis has just heard the oracle's terrible prophecy.  She hears the terrible Destiny of her Achilles. Thetis is on the far right, with her husband. The oracle is beside her. I like the other guest at the wedding. On the center of the painting, we see Cupid and her mama Venus. Besides her, wearing an armor, is Phallas Athena. Everyone in the table looks shocked at hearing the terrible news.

Above, we see The Battle of the Amazons. I hope that by now you are already familiar with this painting.  Like any regular battle, it is simply chaotic. By now, the ranks of the Amazons have sundered. They are being flaked, cornered in all directions. The lances in the background allude to their certain demise. In the foreground, we see a large number of dead Amazons. One Roman guy is taking on two Amazons.

War is not pretty. Usually, it is the women who suffer the most from Wars. In this The Consequences of War painting, we see a visual representation of that sad fact. In the center, we see Mars's intercepted by Venus and her Cupid. She is warning him of the results of the war he rages. Behind her, we see women and children running for their lives. Before Mars, a maiden is cowering next to her dead lover. Next to her, a mother is fleeing with her dead baby. Meanwhile, Hate is beckoning Mars to continue his mad rage. Here Mars lies at a standstill between love and hate. On the meantime, the humans are dying and suffering. Nothing good ever comes of war, regardless of the reasons behind going to war. This mature way of looking at war was brilliantly depicted by Peter Paul Rubens.

In The Council of the Gods, we see democracy working at its best. In the center of this painting, Apollo, Athena and Mars are kicking out all the chaotic elements. Behind them, we see the Council of the Gods. They are all talking and conversing in a rational fashion. The God of the Gods, Zeus is hearing his underlings and taking their advisers into consideration. Their order contrast well with the chaos that is outside their domain. In a sense, the council of the Gods represents a constitutional monarchy. During these days, constitutions where fashionable. Now the kings had a duty toward the people they rule. They could no longer be jerks for the heck of being jerks. The parliament provided a check to their absolute power.

In this painting, we see Seneca. He was an adviser to Emperor Nero. The problem was that he was a good adviser. Thus, due to his lack of flattering words, Nero put him to death. They sliced his arteries and had him bleed slowly to death. In his last moments, they place him in a bath to wash him in preparation for his demise. As he is dying, one of his scribes is writing his last words. Even at this stage of the game, he kept giving good advises to Nero and Rome in General. The Romans certainly did create a bunch of ingenious executions. What I like best is how this old guy's body looks old, yet strong. It alludes to his younger, more vigorous, years.

You know, they should have called this painting The Lack of Judgement of Paris. Basically, Athena, Hera and Venus  where competing to see who was the hottest chick in the land. They had earned equal votes in Mount Olympus. Thus, they went to seek an impartial judge to break the tie. This is when they ran into Paris. In his younger years, Paris was a shepherd.  The goddesses saw him tending to his sheep. To swing his judgement they each promised him something. Athena promised him wisdom, Hera offered him a kingdom and Venus offered him the hottest chick in the land.

Paris, lacking wisdom and not caring about his kingdom, choose the hot chick. This hot chick was Helen. When he stole her, it was an unwise choice that lost him his kingdom. In any case, here Paris is giving the apple to Venus. Above her, Victory is crowning her. The audience to the left are Paris's attendants and a few nymphs. To the right, we see the river God of the river that ran near Troy. They are the quiet spectators of Paris's doom.

Frankly, I like this version better. Here we get to see better the pretty forms of the Goddesses. They are each near their symbols. I like how Rubens shows the maidens in 3 different poses. One is frontal, the other is in profile form and the last one we see from behind. They are an interesting study of the female form. Behind Paris,  we see Hermes. He is simply there as an impartial judge. He will legitimize the results of this competition. Interesting enough, they represent three different manners of women handling their forms.Venus sleeps with whatever moves. Athena is celibate and Hera is married. It is food for thought, to say the least.

Before Rome became Rome, there was the  eternal rivalry with Carthagen. Carthagen was very similar to Rome. They employed the same battle tactics and then some. In this painting, we see the Roman legionnaire leader Scipion meeting the infamous Hannibal. Hannibal was the army leader of Carthage. Even though the Romans where more, he always found a way to win time and time again. Carthage only lost the war because of the Senate's indecision. Plus, they grew stingy with the money in the end. They decided not to pay the mercenaries from Africa. Thus, since they did not pay what they owned, those highly trained mercenaries turned on them. By the time the Romans arrived, there was hardly any need to fight. Thus, here you have the context of this cool looking painting. I think it got destroyed,stolen or lost. Thus, we only have this black and white textbook version. 

The Rape of Europa is another one of those infamous Zeus romances. Here he turned into a bull to kidnap this chick. Her friends by the shore are shocked. They are wondering where this bull is taking her. Europa herself looks quite distressed. Above her, flies two Cupids. They are readying their arrows to make her fall in love with Zeus. By the water, we see some very ugly fishes and another Cupid. The landscape looks quite realistic. Really neat if you ask me.

In the early days, the Romans had a shortage of women. Part of their conquering strategy included taking the women from their enemies. The Sabines where supposedly their allies. However, the Emperor had other plans. He invited the Sabines to the Olympics. When he gave the signal, his guards kidnapped all the unmarried maidens. Here we see the chaos of this terrible tragedy. In the center, a maiden in black and golden is begging the Emperor to show her mercy. On the far left, an old woman is grabbing her young daughter by the leg in a feeble attempt to try to save her. On the far right, a man is getting his girl onto a horse. It really is a sight of utter helplessness. It sucked to be a chick back then.

Well, this is the last Peter Paul Rubens Greek Painting. It was a fun ride. However, we are putting closure to this section. The next Rubens blog will focus on his landscapes and then we move on to his Catholic paintings. I will also discuss his family paintings. He is the living proof that it is wonderful to have an army of helpers. It really does help you finish your work quickly. Above is an early draft of the three graces. They are a perfect example of the kinds of women that Rubens liked. Too bad he never got to marry a pretty Turkey like these cuties. Oh, well! Marriage was ,in the end, a business transaction. Only today, are feelings taken into consideration. In any case, this last little number deserves 5 stars rating. I hope that you liked this latest art blog.