Rubens & Women at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, until 28 January 2024

If you look up the word 'Rubenesque' on Google, the first definition it gives you is 'characteristic or reminiscent of the paintings of Rubens, especially with reference to his voluptuous female nudes' - which is probably what you would have expected. However, the exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery aims to challenge  the assumption that the Flemish master painted only one type of woman, and to give a far more nuanced reading of his interaction with 'the fair sex'. 

With more than 40 paintings and drawings, including a number of the images he made of his own wives and children - more than any other artist - this talk will continue my focus on portraiture in October, continuing with the 17th Century examples we have seen from the National Portrait Gallery and in the work of Frans Halls. However, it will also look at 'imagined' women. That said, some of the portraits, which have been leant from private and public collections, both British and international, might imply that fact was more fantastic than fiction. The detail in the illustration above is just a hint of the sumptuous outfit worn by the Marchesa Maria Serra Palavicino - but then, the Genoese really did have the best clothes in the early 17th Century. Just wait until you see the full portrait, if you don't already know it! 

As ever, I will introduce the exhibition as thoroughly as possible, drawing on the highlights, but including as much as is possible - and which catches my eye - in the time I have allowed.