So Fra Filippo became a great painter. When he went to Prato and saw Lucrezia Buti he was already nearly fifty years old, while she was hardly more than twenty. She also was an orphan. Her father, who had been a silk merchant in Florence, left his daughters in the care of Antonio Buti: evidently a harsh guardian, for he put Lucrezia and Spinetta, both beautiful girls, into the convent of Santa Margherita against their will, in order to save himself some expense. Filippo saw her, used her as a model, and later married her by permission of the Pope. The virgins and saints of his paintings had a new spiritual radiance after he saw Lucrezia’s face. He used her for all manner of subjects, from the Virgin to the “Dancing Daughter of Herodias,” changing her features to suit as many different characters.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, NO. 28, SERIAL NO. 28
HELENA FOURMENT. By Rubens
THE WIFE IN ART
Peter Paul Rubens and Helena Fourment
THREE
The extraordinary beauty of Helena Fourment won for her the love of a world famous painter when she was only sixteen years old. Peter Paul Rubens married this girl, and immortalized her charms on many a precious canvas. It was a most fortunate match. Helena was not only beautiful; she had also every attraction of nature and education, and belonged to a wealthy family. Rubens was a widower, and one of the most celebrated painters in Europe. More than that, he was a distinguished and successful statesman.
Fortunate throughout his life, brilliant, handsome, and of good family, Rubens was never in doubt of his future. His talent for painting showed itself in boyhood. At the age of twenty-three he went to Italy, where he soon attracted the notice of the Duke of Mantua. Partly as art expert, partly as diplomat, he went in the Duke’s service to all the important cities of Italy. He spent eight years in that country, sometimes painting for his patron, but more often travelling on political missions.