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Jacob van Utrecht, Bartholomeus Rubens and Barbara Arents © Lowie De Peuter and Michel Wuyts
The Rubens House > Collection > Virtual guided tour > First-floor rooms > Family room (17) > Bartholomeus Rubens and Barbara Arents
Bartholomeus Rubens and Barbara Arents
Rubens’ paternal grandparents posed for this portrait on the occasion of their wedding.
Bartholomeus Rubens proudly shows off two hunks of gum arabic, a product with a wide range of curative properties. He was an apothecary, and the gum arabic represents the prestige of his profession. Barbara Arents came from a noble family. In her right hand she is holding two violets and in her left, a rosary. These attributes symbolise her chastity and godliness. On the back of the portrait are their united coats of arms, bearing the date ‘1530’. Their only son, Jan Rubens (1530-1587), the painter’s father, would become a lawyer and magistrate.
Jacob van Utrecht (c. 1480-?)
Bartholomeus Rubens and Barbara Arents
oil on panel