Which Flemish Baroque painter is known for his Rubenesque figures?

Peter Paul Rubens is the Flemish Baroque painter known for the full-bodied figures described as “Rubenesque.”

Rubens was born in 1577 and became the leading painter of the Flemish Baroque tradition. His art combines energetic movement, brilliant color, dramatic compositions, and figures with powerful, ample bodies. The adjective “Rubenesque” was coined from the public’s association of such forms with his paintings, especially his mythological and biblical nudes.

His subjects ranged widely: altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, ancient mythology, and allegories. Rubens also worked as a diplomat and ran a large Antwerp workshop, where assistants helped execute the many commissions generated by his international reputation. His style was shaped by Italian art, classical antiquity, and the dramatic visual language of the Counter-Reformation.

The answer is not Jacob Jordaens, although Jordaens was also a prominent Flemish Baroque painter and sometimes depicted robust figures. Anthony van Dyck, another Rubens associate, became especially famous for aristocratic portraiture, while Jan Brueghel the Elder was known for finely detailed landscapes, flowers, and cabinet pictures.