03 — ARTWORK
Battle of the Amazons
- MEDIUM
- Oil on panel, 121 x 166 cm
- TYPE
- Mythological
PALETTE
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THIS REPRODUCTION
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CURRENT LOCATION · Alte Pinakothek
- FILE
- 1214 × 900 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Painted by Rubens when he was still young, the painting shows to the full the impetuosity of his talent. The whirlwind composition is typically BaroqueThe period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. In this sense the term covers a wide range of styles and artists. In painting and sculpture there were three main forms of Baroque: (1) sumptuous display, a style associated with the Catholic Counter Reformation and the absolutist courts of Europe (Bernini, Rubens); (2) dramatic realism (Caravaggio); and (3) everyday realism, a development seen in particular in Holland (Rembrandt, Vermeer). In architecture, there was an emphasis on expressiveness and grandeur, achieved through scale, the dramatic use of light and shadow, and increasingly elaborate decoration. In a more limited sense the term Baroque often refers to the first of these categories. The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies., while the horse charging headlong into the fight was an image perfectly suited to this artist's passionate temperament.
Rubens took the subject of The Battle of the Amazons from ClassicalRelating to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome (classical Antiquity). The classical world played a profoundly important role in the Renaissance, with Italian scholars, writers, and artists seeing their own period as the rebirth (the "renaissance") of classical values after the Middle Ages. The classical world was considered the golden age for the arts, literature, philosophy, and politics. Concepts of the classical, however, changed greatly from one period to the next. Roman literature provided the starting point in the 14th century, scholars patiently finding, editing and translating a wide range of texts. In the 15th century Greek literature, philosophy and art - together with the close study of the remains of Roman buildings and sculptures-expanded the concept of the classical and ensured it remained a vital source of ideas and inspiration. Antiquity; it represents the battle between Theseus's Athenians and the women-warriors of Telestris. A battle of this kind is briefly mentioned by Herodotus (4.110). The surging movement throws the opposing forces together; men, women and horses charge into combat, and the result is like an explosion within the picture space. The Amazons are hurled from their horses down into the river at the basemolded foot of a pillar or column providing the transition from the plinth to the shaft. of the picture, while Theseus's horse rears up towards the upper frame, and the wounded go swirling into the background, drawn by the current of the River Thermodon. This is one of the most dazzling feats of Baroque painting.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 2 minutes):
François Couperin: Pieces de clavicen: L'Amazône
OTHER WORKS BY PETER PAUL RUBENS
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-re88e3165e80f76,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Battle of the Amazons by RUBENS, Peter Paul},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/rubens-peter-paul-r5af483e07d2c6c/battle-of-the-amazons-re88e3165e80f76},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.