Isabella Brant
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/Peter_Paul_Rubens_092.jpg/220px-Peter_Paul_Rubens_092.jpg)
Isabella Brant (* 1591 ; † July 15, 1626 in Antwerp ) was the first wife of Peter Paul Rubens , who stood for several portraits for him and his students.
Life
Isabella Brant was the daughter of Jan Brant, a council clerk and humanist in Antwerp, and his wife Clara de Moy. She met Rubens at the age of 18 after he had returned from Italy in 1608 and, thanks to the contacts of his brother Philipp, visited the home of the Antwerp mayor Nicolaas Rockox .
The couple married on October 3, 1609 in the Premonstratensian Church of St. Michael . The engagement painting, a double portrait in the honeysuckle arbor, is exhibited today in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
The couple had three children: Clara Serena (1611–1623), Albert (1615–1657) and Nikolaas (1618–1655). The daughter was named after Isabella's mother, the sons after Rubens' patrons.
After the death of his 36-year-old wife from the plague, Rubens lamented his loss: “I have lost my good wife! She had none of the faults of her gender, she was moody, so good, so loyal. "
photos
Engagement painting of the couple in the honeysuckle arbor ( Alte Pinakothek )
Isabella Brant, drawing by Rubens around 1621 ( British Museum )
Isabella Brant, drawing by Anthony van Dyck around 1623–1626 ( National Gallery of Art )
Isabella Brant, painting by Rubens around 1620-25 ( Cleveland Museum of Art )
Clara Serena Rubens ( Rubenshuis )
Individual evidence
- ^ Antonius Lux (ed.): Great women of world history. 1000 biographies in words and pictures . Sebastian Lux Verlag , Munich 1963, p. 79.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Brant, Isabella |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | first wife of Peter Paul Rubens |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1591 |
DATE OF DEATH | July 15, 1626 |
Place of death | Antwerp |