his picture of "Helena Fourment Rubens and Her Son and Daughter" was really painted to honor the boy. It has always been the custom in Europe to pay special attention to the boys in the home and keep the girls very much in the background. It is very easy to see how pert the little Albert Rubens is, and how subdued and meek is his sister. The boy has the "Lord of Creation" air that would not be good for him in America. We love the picture, for Rubens, the father, shows us plainly the old idea that the boy rules the home. Naturally the father would know the traits of his own children but not always would he allow us to know them too.
Rubens was so wonderful as an artist, as a man to settle quarrels, and as a beautiful gentleman that all Europe did him honor. He was sent to see the ruling powers in England, in Spain, in Italy, and in France. Each ruler entertained him as a royal guest, and Rubens painted masterpieces for each in return. His paintings were the wonder of the age. It is said that his fellow-artists looked with jealous eyes at his flesh tints, and that all painters since have been in despair trying to equal him. He left hundreds of pictures and hundreds of sketches. The sketches alone are bringing many hundreds of times their weight in gold.
Fig. 33. Helena Fourment and Her Son and Daughter. Rubens. Louvre, Paris
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