Peter Paul Rubens was 53 years old, rich, successful, and lonely. His first wife, Isabella Brandt, had died 5 years earlier, but in 1630, the young Hélène Fourment caught Rubens eye. She was sixteen and the full-figured picture of everything Rubens loved in a woman. She also happened to be the niece of Rubens first wife Isabella. We can only hope that a 37 year gap and familial ties were less concerning in the 17th century, but Rubens didn't let that slow him down. He married Hélène, moved to a country house, and had five children with her as fast as he could. Rubens painted Hélène many times, often as the goddess Venus—a man truly smitten.
