During the seventeenth century, Peter Paul Rubens was renowned as one of the greatest and most popular of all Baroque artists in Europe. He masterfully combined artistic developments from antiquity, the Italian Renaissance and Italian Baroque with his own Flemish painting heritage; the result was an innovative, dynamic style, known as International Baroque, which was truly the first pan-European manner. Rubens’ unique style is manifested in The Rape of the Daughters of Leuccipus: the idealized and voluptuous figures, dramatic diagonal composition, intense colors, and energetic, lyrical brushstrokes. Rubens painted a number of mythological subjects and here he presents the moment when Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of Leda, abducted the daughters of King Leuccipus who were betrothed to the twins’ cousins. Castor and Pollux appear as mighty warriors and their powerful, tanned bodies contrast with the soft, white flesh of their victims. The title refers to the aftermath of this event, in which the twins impregnated the sisters, but Rubens masks the violence of these acts with his idealized representation. ; 88.2 x 83.1 in