The Stoic Baroque: Rubens Painting His Theory

How is it possible that the seventeenth-century Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, who painted in an intense style, with sensual subject matter, was a Stoic? At the core of the Early Modern artistic project is the issue of how style conveys meaning. Baroque style can connote art theory, and for Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, this theory included classical Stoic philosophical concepts. While Rubens's commitment to Stoicism can be traced in his subject matter, the author investigates it in...