Arnold Franz Rubens (Antwerp, 1687-1719), Battle with Horsemen in a River Landscape

Arnold Francis Rubens (Antwerp, 1687-1719)

Battle with knights in a river landscape

(2) Oil on canvas, 30 x 39 cm

With frame, 51 x 58 cm

Signed lower left “Rubens”

Arnold Franz Rubens (1687–1719) was a Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in cabinet paintings of landscapes and battle scenes. Rubens was born in Antwerp, the son of the art dealer Arnold Rubens and Catharina Pannens. Little is known about his life and training: according to contemporary sources, he may have been self-taught, copying paintings and prints available in his father's shop. What is certain is that he became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1715. His work consists mainly of cabinet paintings of landscapes – many of his landscapes are river or seascapes – and battle scenes. He also copied paintings by his famous namesake Peter Paul Rubens, to whom he is not thought to have been directly related. In his biographies of Dutch painters published between 1729 and 1769, the scholar Jacob Campo Weyerman expressed appreciation for Rubens's depiction of soldier faces and palette. Furthermore, Jacob Campo Weyerman shows that he also appreciates the painter's particularly affable personality, which is described in these terms: «Moreover, that little artist is very courteous and friendly for one born in Antwerp, whose citizens are usually as proud and hostile to foreigners as so many swollen Lucifers, and clearly show that they descend from the Spanish officers and soldiers of the Duke of Alba».

The two canvases show a group of knights engaged in a lively battle. The figures are small but detailed, with bright colors that stand out against the softer background. Horses and knights can be identified engaged in combat, some with lances or swords, others on horseback. The background shows a landscape with dark trees on the sides, which masterfully frame the central scene. In the distance, a city with buildings and a hill can be seen. The sky is clear, with white clouds that add depth to the scene. The two works show clear analogies with some of Rubens's most famous pictorial pieces, including the Battle between Europeans and Turks from the Hermitage Museum and the Carnival in an Italian Square, recently sold on the antiques market.