Rubens and his Wife by Fernando Botero

Paying a vibrant tribute to classic Dutch painting, this complex work explores the bourgeois couple portrait with a sumptuous eccentricity. At the heart of this creation titled “Rubens and his Wife”, the Colombian master Fernando Botero deploys his aesthetic sensitivity to transform a solemn pose into a spectacle of grandiose volumes. The scene magnifies the conjugal union by giving it a fascinating sculptural and timeless dimension.A man and a woman of colossal corpulence are seated side by side in a richly decorated interior space. The man on the left, bearded and mustachioed, sports a wide black hat and a yellow ocher doublet while holding a dark cane. The woman on the right wears a light beige voluminous headdress and a white pleated ruff around her neck, dressed in a wide pink dress with lined patterns. Their extremely round faces display serious and dignified expressions toward the observer. The background is adorned with a profusion of white and pink roses that frame the massive silhouettes with a surprising delicacy. A warm light bathes the ensemble, accentuating the relief of the fabrics.The artist’s excellence bursts forth in the meticulous management of complex draperies and the neat texture of the smooth faces. The rigorous application of oil glazes bestows an altogether remarkable physical presence and plastic harmony upon this double effigie.