A beautifully illustrated guide to Rubens's two greatest landscape paintings.
Rubens: The Two Great Landscapes is a handsomely illustrated monograph that brings together Rubens's two greatest landscape paintings: A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning and The Rainbow Landscape. Painted as pendants, the pair have been in London since 1803, when they were separated, the former eventually entering the collection of the National Gallery and the latter that of The Wallace Collection. The book puts the creation of these two landscapes into the full context of Rubens's later life and his semi-retirement. It demonstrates how they are the zenith of his achievements as a landscape painter and explores how he drew skillfully on Flemish influences, including Bruegel, in creating two highly original compositions.