Description And Narrativ

As one of the greatest artists in 17th century,Rubens devoted his life to Italian arts,though he had been initiated in the North,where descriptiveness is emphasized.This particular experience made him especially familiar with both Northern descriptive arts and Italian narrative arts,because of which his works shuttle back and forth between describing and narrating.The serial paintings of Marie de Medici's Life Cycle are significant works in Rubens' artistic life,the complicated schema as well as the combination of metaphor,symbol,description,and narration of which make them the peak works in Rubens' all creations.By analyzing the serial paintings of Marie de Medici's Life Cycle,integrating with the characteristic and historical context of the paintings,this thesis specifically resolves the descriptiveness and narrativeness of Rubens' work.The first chapter of the thesis narrates Rubens' study experience,which is also his traditional context.The second chapter analyzes the historical environment of Rubens'life,and figures out the historical cause.Then,the third chapter tries to understand the paintings from the perspective of the viewer,specifically,the visual effects of paintings to eyes,and the different interpretation of paintings from diverse access of texts by artificial guidance.Finally,the forth chapter explains the symbols and metaphors layer by layer referring to specific image,in which way to understand Marie de Medici's Life Cycle,and the descriptiveness and narrativeness of Rubens' paintings.