User:Amaya.nguyen/Het Pelsken

Het Pelsken
Het Pelsken (literally The Fur or The Pelt) is an oil on wood portrait created in 1638 by Peter Paul Rubens depicting his second wife, Helena Fourment, after a bath. The painting has elements from the Baroque period. It is now found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Description
The oil-on-wood painting measures 176 x 83 cm, depicting Rubens second wife Helena Fourment who has just take a bath. Fourment takes up most of the space of the composition standing over a vibrant red carpet. She is depicted fully nude, holding up her breasts with one of her arms as one would hold a baby. A dark fur garment loosely wraps around her waist held by the other arm, covering small parts of her body. Ruben utilizes soft lighting and pink tones to highlight Helena's fair skin. Her hair is styled down with small curls, touching her soldiers. Her body is positioned towards the right side of the scene, while she her head is facing forward, looking toward the viewer. She has a soft and sultry expression on her face.

Techniques
Rubens utilizes the Classical Greek technique of depicting Helena in Venus Pudica, a pose in which a nude female covers her genitalia with her arms and hands or a cloth.