Helena Fourment
- Susanna Lunden (sister)
- Alexander Rubens, Lord of Vremdyck (grandson)
- Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (great-great-great granddaughter)
Helena (or Hélène) Fourment (11 April 1614 – 15 July 1673) was the second wife of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. She was the subject of a few portraits by Rubens, and also modeled for other religious and mythological paintings.
Family
Helena Fourment was the youngest child of Daniël I Fourment, a wealthy Antwerp silk and tapestry merchant, and Clara Stappaerts. After his death, Daniel left to his son (Daniel II) an important collection of tapestries of Oudenaarde, Brussels, and Antwerp and 35 paintings of his son-in-law, a large painting of Jordaens and several works of Italian masters.[1] They had four sons and seven daughters. Helena Fourment was buried together with her first husband, children and parents in the Saint James' church, Antwerp. Most of her sisters married into important families.
Daniel I Fourment, died 1643 : marr. Clara Stappaerts.[2]
- Peeter Fourment, born 1590:
Married to Antonia van Hecke. - Daniel II Fourment, Lord of Wijtvliet, born 1592:
married to Clara Brant, sister of Isabella Brant (1591–1626). - Clara Fourment, (1593-1643):
married to Peter van Hecke (1591–1645), tapestry dealer. - Joanna Fourment, born 1596:
married to Balthasar-Nicolaas de Groot. - Susanna Fourment (1599–1628):
married to Arnold Lunden, both painted by Rubens.[3] - Marie Fourment, born 1601:
married to Henri Moens. - Catharina Fourment, born 1603:
married to Peeter Hannecaert, Alderman. - Joannes Fourment, born 1609:
married to Marie Volpi. - James Fourment, born 1611.
- Elisabeth Fourment (1609–1667):
married 23 October 1627 to Nicolas Pycqueri, died 1661: almoner of Antwerp.[4] - Helena Fourment (1614–1673):
married to 1st Peter Paul Rubens, 2nd the 1st count of Bergeyck.
- Peeter Fourment, born 1590:
First marriage
Helena Fourment married Rubens on 6 December 1630 in Saint James,[5] when she was 16 years old and he was aged 53. His first wife, Isabella Brant, had died in 1626. Helena's brother Daniël Fourment the younger was married to Clara Brant, the sister of Isabella. Daniël Fourment the elder was an art lover and possessed works by Rubens and Jacob Jordaens, and works by Italian masters; he also commissioned from Rubens a series of tapestries depicting the life of Achilles.[6]
Peter Paul Rubens, marr. 2nd to Helena Fourment:
- Clara-Joanna Rubens, baptized 18 January 1632: marr. Philips van Parys, knight
- François I Rubens, bapt. 12 July 1633: alderman of Antwerp in 1659, marr. Susanna-Gratiana Charles.
- Isabella-Helena Rubens, baptized 3 May 1635
- Peter III Paul Rubens, baptized 1 March 1637: ordained priest.
- Constantia-Albertina Rubens, baptized 3 February 1641: entered La Cambre Abbey in 1668.
Second marriage
After the death of Rubens, Helena started a relationship with Jean-Baptiste de Brouchoven, assessor and alderman of Antwerp, who later became 1st Count of Bergeyk.[7] On 9 October 1644 their first son Jean de Brouchoven, 2nd Count of Bergeyck, was born, and Helena and Jean-Baptist married in 1645. Her second husband, who was a military knight of St-Iago, outlived her and died during a diplomatic mission in Toulouse in 1681.[8]
Jean-Baptist de Brouchoven, 1st count of Bergeyck; married to Helena Fourment[9]
- Jean de Brouchoven, 2nd Count of Bergeyck, (1644–1725), later created 1st Baron of Leefdael:
married to Livina Marie de Beer-Meulebeke.- Nicolas-Joseph de Brouchoven, 3rd Count of Bergeyck, 2nd Baron of Leefdael: (descendants upon today).
- Hyacinthe-Marie de Brouchoven, Lord of Spy (1650–1707): 19th President of the Great Council;
married to Marie-Adrienne Zuallart.- Guillaume-François de Brouchoven, Lord of Spy: dies without heirs.
- Nicolas de Brouchoven, Lord of Attevoorde:
married to Marie-Isabelle de Pommereaux, Lady of Hove- Henri de Brouchove, Lord of Hove
- Catherine de Brouchoven':
married to Gilles de Paepe, Lord of Glabbeecq, son of Léon-Jean de Paepe. - Marie-Fernandine de Brouchoven: entered a Carmelite convent.
- Hélène-Isabelle de Brouchoven'; married Emmanuel-Joseph, Marquess of Villa-Flores
- Jean de Brouchoven, 2nd Count of Bergeyck, (1644–1725), later created 1st Baron of Leefdael:
Helena died in Brussels in 1673 aged 59. Amongst the many descendants of her grandson the 3rd Count of Bergeyck we find Louis de Brouchoven de Bergeyck and his great-granddaughter Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
Presence
Helena Fourment was said to be very beautiful, amongst others by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, then Governor of the Netherlands, stating that she was "undoubtedly the most beautiful one may see here",[10] and by the poet Gaspar Gevartius, a friend of Rubens, who praised "Helen of Antwerp, who far surpasses Helen of Troy".[11]
Paintings
Helena Fourment
Portraits
- Helena Fourment, c. 1630, now in the Alte Pinakothek
- Helena Fourment in wedding dress, detail
- Helena Fourment with two of her children, c. 1635, Louvre
- Helena Fourment with her Son Francis, c. 1634–1635, Alte Pinakothek
- Portrait of Helena Fourment, c. 1638, now in the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
- Rubens with Helena Fourment and their son Peter Paul, 1639, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Helena Fourment with a Carriage, 1639
- Helena Fourment with her first husband Rubens and their child Nicolaas
- Helena Fourment in wedding dress, Munich, Alte Pinakothek, 1630–1631; a studio copy of this work is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum
- Pörtrait of Helena Fourment with a glove", Munich, Alte Pinakothek (same as above?)
- Helena Fourment with her eldest son, Frans, 1635, Munich, Alte Pinakothek
- Rubens and Helena Fourment walking in their garden, Munich
- Helena Fourment with her children Clara, Johanna, and Frans, 1636-1637, Louvre
- Helena Fourment and Frans Rubens, Louvre
- Rubens, his wife Helena Fourment, and their son Peter Paul, c. 1639, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Portrait of Helena Fourment(?) a studio work in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels
- Portrait of Helena Fourment(?) a 17th-century work from Antwerp, now in the Rubenshuis
Model
-
- Pastoral Scene
- Andromeda
- Venus, Mars and Cupid
- The feast of Herodes and Salome
- The Origin of the Milky Way
- Judgment of Paris
- The Three Graces
- Feast of Venus (detail)
- Judgment of Paris, Museo del Prado (the Venus-figure is modelled on Helena Fourment)
- The Garden of Love, Prado, 1630–1633
- Het Pelsken, 1638, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- The Origin of the Milky Way, c. 1637
Siblings: Clara van Hecke née Fourment, and Susanna Lunden née Fourment
- Portrait of a woman, possibly Clara Fourment, c. 1630, now in the Mauritshuis
- The Felt Hat, probably a portrait of Susanna Fourment, c. 1622, now in the National Gallery
- Susanna Fourment and her daughter, 1621, by Anthony Van Dyck, in the National Gallery of Art
Notes
- ^ De Vlaemsche school: tijdschrift voor kunsten, letteren en wetenschappen, Volume 9:p. 142
- ^ De Vlaemsche school: tijdschrift voor kunsten, letteren en wetenschappen, Volume 9:p. 142
- ^ Fahy, Everett (1973). The Wrightsman Collection. 5. Paintings, drawings. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 196. ISBN 9780870990120.
- ^ Notice des oeuvres d'art de l'eglise paroissaile ... de St. Jacques a ...
- ^ De Vlaemsche school: tijdschrift voor kunsten, letteren en wetenschappen, Volume 9:p. 142
- ^ Campbell, Thomas Patrick (2010). Tapestry in the Baroque. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 28. ISBN 9780300155143.
- ^ Knackfuss, H. (1904). Rubens. p. 158. ISBN 9783954910489.
- ^ Biographie universelle, Bon - Bru, Volume 5
- ^ Jean Charles Joseph de Vegiano, Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas et du Comté de Bourgogne
- ^ Liedtke, Walter A. (1984). Flemish paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 177. ISBN 9780870993565.
- ^ Néret, Gilles (2004). "The Most Beautiful Woman in Antwerp". Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640. Taschen. ISBN 9783822828854.
Further reading
- Brendel, Maria L. (2011). Die Macht der Frau. Rubens' letztes Modell Helene Fourment (in German). Berlin: Parthas. ISBN 978-3-86964-037-2.
- Liedtke, Walter A. (1984). Flemish paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0870993569. (see index, v.1; Lunden, Susanna (née Fourment) for information about her daughter)
External links
- Media related to Hélène Fourment at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
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and drawings
- The Descent from the Cross (Siegen; 1600–1602)
- Leda and the Swan (1601, 1602)
- The Deposition (1602)
- Self-Portrait in a Circle of Friends from Mantua (1602–1605)
- Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Lerma (1603)
- Portrait of a Young Woman (1603)
- Hercules and Omphale (1603)
- Heraclitus and Democritus (1603)
- Virgin and Child (c. 1604)
- The Fall of Phaeton (c. 1604/1605)
- The Baptism of Christ (1604–1605)
- The Gonzaga Family in Adoration of the Holy Trinity (1604–1605)
- Transfiguration (1604–1605)
- The Circumcision (1605)
- Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria (1606)
- Portrait of Maria di Antonio Serra (1606)
- Portrait of a Noblewoman with an Attendant (1606)
- Portrait of Giovanni Carlo Doria on Horseback (1606)
- Madonna della Vallicella (1606–1608)
- Susanna and the Elders (1607)
- The Head of Saint John the Baptist Presented to Salome (c. 1609)
- Adoration of the Magi (Madrid; 1609 and 1628–29)
- Samson and Delilah (1609–1610)
- Honeysuckle Bower (1609–1610)
- Coronation of the Virgin (1609–1611)
- Juno and Argus (1610)
- Raising of the Cross (1610–1611)
- Conversion of Saint Paul (London; 1610–1612)
- Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1611)
- Venus Frigida (1611)
- Prometheus Bound (1611–1612)
- The Four Philosophers (1611–1612)
- Antwerp Resurrection (1611–1612)
- Visitation (c. 1611–1615)
- Roman Charity (1612)
- Ecce Homo (1612)
- Descent from the Cross (Antwerp; 1612–1614)
- Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit (Rotterdam; 1612–1614)
- Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit (Cambridge; c. 1614)
- The Tribute Money (1612–1614)
- The Defeat of Sennacherib (1612–1614)
- The Four Continents (1610s)
- Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter (1612–1614)
- Portrait of a Commander (1613)
- The Crowning of the Virtuous Hero (1613–1614)
- The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (1613–1615)
- The Death of Adonis (1614)
- Venus and Adonis (1614)
- St Sebastian (c. 1614)
- The Virgin Mary and Saint Francis Saving the World from Christ's Anger (c. 1614)
- Madonna della Cesta (1615)
- Ixion, King of the Lapiths, Deceived by Juno, Who He Wished to Seduce (1615)
- Daniel in the Lions' Den (1615)
- Bacchanalia (c. 1615)
- A Statue of Ceres (c. 1615)
- The Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt (1615–1616)
- The Tiger Hunt (1615–1616)
- Theodosius and Saint Ambrose (1615–1616)
- The Wild Boar Hunt (1615-1617)
- Florence Resurrection (1616)
- The Virgin and Child Surrounded by the Holy Innocents (1616)
- Erichthonius Discovered by the Daughters of Cecrops (c. 1616)
- The Wolf and Fox Hunt (c. 1616)
- The Lion and Leopard Hunt (c. 1616)
- Romulus and Remus (1615–1616)
- Saint Stephen Triptych (1616–1617)
- Two Women with a Candle (1616–1617)
- Descent from the Cross (Lille; 1616–1617)
- The Meeting Between Abraham and Melchizedek (1616–1617)
- Christ and the Penitent Sinners (1617)
- Mars and Rhea Silvia (1617)
- The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man (1617)
- The Great Last Judgement (1617)
- A Bearded Man (c. 1617–18)
- Adoration of the Magi (Lyon; 1617–1618)
- The Five Senses (1617–1618)
- Two Satyrs (1618)
- Medusa (1618)
- The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus (c. 1618)
- Christ Triumphant over Sin and Death (c. 1618)
- The Prodigal Son (1618)
- The Union of Earth and Water (c. 1618)
- Tigress with Her Cubs (attributed; 1618)
- Mucius Scaevola before Lars Porsenna (c. 1618–1620)
- Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee (1618–1620)
- The Wild Boar Hunt (1618-1620)
- St Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy (1619–1620)
- The Small Last Judgement (1619)
- Conversion of Saint Paul (1620s)
- The Fall of the Damned (c. 1620)
- Landscape with Philemon and Baucis (c. 1620)
- Portrait of a Young Man in Armor (c. 1620)
- Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1620)
- Perseus Freeing Andromeda (1620)
- Saints Dominic and Francis Saving the World from Christ's Anger (1620)
- The Rape of Orithyia by Boreas (1620)
- Christ on the Cross (1620)
- The Three Graces (Florence; 1620–1623)
- Isabella Brant (c. 1621)
- The Lion Hunt (1621)
- Marie de' Medici cycle (1621–1630)
- Portrait of Susanna Lunden (1622)
- Perseus and Andromeda (c. 1622)
- The History of Constantine (1622–1625)
- Self-Portrait (1623)
- The Conversion of Saint Bavo (1623–1624)
- Diana and Her Nymphs Leaving for the Hunt (1623–1624)
- Adoration of the Magi (Antwerp; 1624)
- The Reconciliation of Esau and Jacob (1624)
- Christ Appointing Saint Roch as Patron Saint of Plague Victims (1623–1626)
- Portrait of Infante Isabella Clara Eugenia (1625)
- Portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (c. 1625)
- Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1625–1626)
- Angelica and the Hermit (c. 1626–1628)
- Henry IV at the Battle of Ivry (1627)
- The Triumphal Entry of Henry IV into Paris (1627)
- The Annunciation (1627–1628)
- The Fall of Man (1628–1629)
- The Rape of Europa (1628–1629)
- Minerva Protecting Peace from Mars (1629–1630)
- Cimon and Pero (1630)
- Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (c. 1630)
- The Crowning of Saint Catherine (1631)
- The Ildefonso Altarpiece (1630–1631)
- Last Supper (1630–1631)
- Odysseus on the Island of the Phaecians (1630–1635)
- The Finding of Erichthonius (1632–1634)
- The Rainbow Landscape (Saint Petersburg; 1632–1635)
- The Garden of Love (c. 1633)
- Adoration of the Magi (Cambridge; 1634)
- Bathsheba at the Fountain (c. 1635)
- The Dance of the Villagers (1635)
- Helena Fourment with Her Son Frans (1635)
- Venus and Adonis (New York; 1635)
- The Triumph of the Church (1635)
- The Feast of Venus (1635–1636)
- The Feast of Herod (1635–1638)
- The Village Fête (1635–1638)
- Mercury and Argus (1635–1638)
- Hercules's Dog Discovers Purple Dye (c. 1636)
- Helena Fourment with Children (1636)
- A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning (1636)
- Saturn (1636)
- The Rainbow Landscape (London; 1636)
- Pallas and Arachne (1636–1637)
- Het Pelsken (1636–1638)
- The Birth of the Milky Way (c. 1637)
- Consequences of War (c. 1638)
- Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides / Deianira Listens to Fame (1638)
- The Three Graces (Madrid; 1636–1638)
- The Rape of Ganymede (1636–1638)
- Diana and Callisto (1637–1638)
- Helena Fourment with a Carriage (1638)
- Self-Portrait (Vienna; 1638–1639)
- Bacchus (1638–1640)
- The Rape of the Sabine Women (1639–1640)
- The Peasants Returning From The Fields (1640)
- The Rainbow Landscape (Munich; 1640)
- Judgment of Paris (various)
- The History of Constantine (1622–1640) (with Pietro da Cortona)
- Palazzi di Genova (1622)
- Rubens family
- Isabella Brant (first wife)
- Helena Fourment (second wife)
- Nicolaas Rubens, Lord of Rameyen (son)
- Albert Rubens (son)
- Jan Rubens (father)
- Maria Pypelinckx (mother)
- Philip Rubens (brother)
- Tobias Verhaecht (teacher)
- Adam van Noort (teacher)
- Otto van Veen (teacher)
- Nicolaas Rockox (friend)
- Poussinists and Rubenists
- Rubens (1977 film)
- Rubenesque
- Rubens' Europe (exhibition)