ANTWERP.- The Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp (KMSKA), with financial support from the Getty Foundation, is conducting extensive scientific research into its unique Rubens collection. Every year, selected interim findings are presented to the public as part of a series entitled 'Rubens Revealed'. The most recent research and publication offer an unprecedented insight into Rubens’s virtuoso painting technique.

Published under the title 'Rubens doorgelicht. Meekijken over de schouder van een virtuoos' (Rubens Revealed. Looking of the Shoulder of a Virtuoso), the latest publication in the series presents observations on Rubens’s technique in paintings in the Royal Museum collection. It is an attractive and abundantly illustrated scientific publication intended for a broad audience. All aspects of Rubens’s fascinating artistic personality are discussed. In addition to providing a detailed analysis of the master’s technical proficiency, the book also elucidates the creative processes involved. The clear and accessible text accompanies high-quality images from the Rubens Project photo archives. These include not only full pictures of Rubens’s paintings, but also numerous close-ups, macro photographs, and infrared and X-ray images, as well as photos of paint samples. No effort has been spared to represent both the subtlety and the bravura of the master’s hand.

Alongside the book publication, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts is presenting a dossier exhibition entitled "Rubens doorgelicht: La furia del pennello", which takes the visitor on a fascinating journey of discovery through the museum’s Rubens collection. Like the book, the exhibition presents the technical research findings of the Rubens project in an accessible manner. Text and close-up photographs elucidate the main pictorial aspects of each of the canvasses and panels, offering the visitor a unique opportunity to explore every detail of Rubens’s furia del pennello or fury of the brush.