RUBENS 



5099 



RUBICON 



retains its good qualities but is no longer af- 

 fected by temperature, and cannot be dis- 

 solved, as before, in naphtha, turpentine or 

 chloroform. To Goodyear's process someone 

 gave the name vulcanization, because Vulcan 

 was the ancient god of fire (see GOODYEAR, 

 CHARLES). 



The Rubber Industry. Since the beginning 

 of the twentieth century the demand for rub- 

 ber has increased with remarkable rapidity, 

 chiefly because of the popularity of the auto- 

 mobile. South America is the principal source 

 of supply for the United States, and Africa for 

 >pe, but the Malay Peninsula and Ceylon 

 produce a considerable quantity. In addition 

 to the native forests there are large rubber 

 plantations in Brazil and Mexico. The juice 

 from which the rubber is obtained does not 

 seem to be necessary to the life of the tree, 

 and trees continue to yield a flow of juice from 

 : to year. Wherever the plants are de- 

 stroyed to obtain the rubber other plants are set 

 out so that the sources of supply are not only 

 maintained but increased on rubber plantations 

 in proportion to the demand for their product. 

 In 1916 crude rubber imported into the United 

 States was valued at $155,044,790. W.F.R. 



Consult Locke's Rubber and Rubber Planting; 

 Pearson's Rubber and Its Relations. 



RUBENS, roo'benz, PETER PAUL (1577-1640), 

 the most celebrated painter of the Flemish 

 school. He stands preeminent as a master of 

 composition and ranks next after Titian and 

 others of the Venetian school as a colorist. 

 Not only was he 

 distinguished as a 

 painter of n H- 

 gious and mytho- 

 logical subjects, 

 but he also ex- 

 r-lli-l in portrai- 

 D landscape 

 art and as an ani- 

 mal painter. He 

 portrayed the 

 .ish peasant- 

 19 in many dif- PETER PAUL RUBENS 

 ferent guises, and painted portaits of the mon- 

 archs and distinguished men of the many 

 count n. -s ulm-h he visited as diplomat painter, 

 irming personality, his courtly grace of 

 r. and his tact and intelligence ma<!< him 

 a favorite with all classes, and he could con- 

 verse in - nt languages. 



Rubens was bora at Siegen, a town of West- 

 phalia, in Germany. After the death of his 



father, when Peter Paul was nine years of age, 

 his mother returned to her native Antwerp. 

 The youth then began his art education un- 

 der the leading masters of this city. In 1600 

 he went to Italy, entering the sen-ice of the 

 Duke of Mantua, for whom he executed a 

 number of paintings and who intrusted him 

 later with a secret mission to Philip III of 

 Spain. Upon his return to Antwerp in 1608, 

 he was appointed <:ourt painter to the Arch- 

 duke Albert, who built for him a magnificent 

 Italian mansion. About this time he painted 

 his famous Christ Bearers, which, together with 

 his masterpiece, The Descent from the Cross, 

 hangs in the old Notre Dame Cathedral of 

 Antwerp. His fame now was established. Pu- 

 pils flocked to his studio, and sovereigns and 

 princes vied with one another to show him 

 favor. 



In 1622 Rubens was invited by Marie de' 

 Medici, mother of Louis XIII of France, to 

 paint for the gallery of the Luxembourg at 

 Paris a series of allegorical pictures illustrating 

 scenes from her life. In 1628 he was sent on 

 a diplomatic mission to Philip IV of Spain, 

 and the following year was appointed envoy to 

 Charles I of England to assist in private nego- 

 tiations of a peace between Spain and Eng- 

 land. For the success of his mission, he was 

 knighted by Charles I. Philip IV conferred 

 a similar honor upon him. While in these 

 countries his brush was not idle, for he painted 

 portraits of these monarchs and notables of 

 their court. 



Having wearied of an ambassador's life, he 

 returned to Antwerp to enjoy his remaining 

 years as a private citizen. Some of his best 

 works belong to these later years, notably The 

 Holy Family oj Saint George, the Crucifixion 

 of Saint Peter and The Flight into Egypt. 

 The latter is faithfully reproduced herewith in 

 color. So rapidly did Rubens work that he was 

 known as "a perfect wizard with his brush." 

 Sir Joshua Reynolds called him "the greatest 

 master in the mechanical part of the art; the 

 best workman with his tools that ever used a 

 pencil.' Hi Lit to posterity thousands of 

 paintings covering a multiplicity of subjects. 



The Metropolitan Museum in New York 

 posM'SH-s, amoiiR other c:mv:i>e<, two of hi 

 finest examples of portraiture : Anne of Austria 

 and Cardinal Infant Ferdinand. RJ>.M. 



Consult Stevenson's Peter Paul Rubens; Dil- 

 lon's Rubcna. 



RUBICON, ru'bikon. In the year 49 B.C., 

 while Julius Caesar was in command of the 



