EARLY RUBENS EXPOSITION

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Until January 5, 2020. Annual pass $35 (25 and younger, free)

THE EARLY PAINTINGS of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) focus on history, the Bible and myth.

At a current Toronto show (www.AGO.ca), these paintings and drawings confront the viewer with their bold approach to storytelling and a view into the early years of his career, when he was at his most innovative and inspired. Rubens produced these early works from 1609 to 1621 in Antwerp, during the Twelve Years’ Truce between the Catholic southern Netherlands, including Antwerp, and the Protestant northern Dutch Republic.

The exhibition brings together works, infrequently exhibited in North America, on loan from 34 museums along with private collections from across the Western world, many of which have never travelled before – a feat in itself.

Featured in the exhibition is a prized painting belonging to the AGO, The Massacre of the Innocents (circa 1610), referencing Herod’s killing of young children as noted in Matthew 2:13-18. One of Rubens’ great and less studied works, it illustrates the collective trauma of religious warfare in the Netherlands and particularly massacres in Antwerp and elsewhere. Today the dramatic painting continues to provide a timeless metaphor for selfpreservation of power and authority.

Once one has seen Rubens’ work, one cannot “unsee” that imagery. Well worth viewing! – MARY LEIGH MORBEY