Peter Paul Rubens (June 28, 1577 - May 30, 1640) was a Flemish baroque painter. He was born in Westphalia to a successful Protestant lawyer, who had fled Antwerp to escape religious persecution. After his father's death, Rubens and his mother returned to Antwerp, where he had himself baptized a Catholic. Religion was to figure prominently in much of his later work.

In Antwerp, his mother apprenticed Rubens to some of the leading painters of the time. Under their influence, he travelled to Italy to study the artistic styles of the Italian Renaissance[?].

Rubens was knighted by King Charles I of England for his diplomatic efforts to bring about a peace treaty between that country and Spain.

He was interred in Saint Jakobskirche, Antwerp, Belgium.