Rubens with his Wife and Child
Not on view
Rubens enjoyed a high reputation in Great Britain throughout the eighteenth century, and prints after his work were published in large numbers. McArdell's mezzotint of Rubens's own family was the first of two such prints published in London after the charming domestic subject; the other was by Charles Phillips. This print was from the main edition but proofs, without lettering, were also made available for collectors and one of these is also in the Met's collection (51.501.7538). The large full-length group portrait was first owned by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722); it then remained in the family through the late nineteenth century and is now in the Met's collection (1981.238). The artist, his wife Helena, and one of their sons appear within an idealized version of the garden at Rubens's mansion in Antwerp, which survives to this day.
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