Religious paintings (1617-20)

From about 1615 onwards more emotion returned to Rubens's painting, and the relief-like style was replaced by a strong spatial treatment and diagonal compositions. Beside the secular paintings (mythological and hunting scenes) Rubens painted many altarpieces whose dynamic composition also stands out. In these altarpieces the rather severe iconic character of the earlier devotional pieces gradually makes way for a more rhetorical expression, better suited to propaganda.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 10 minutes):
Orlando Gibbons: Te Deum