Standing before Rubens; His Wife, Helena Fourment; andOne ofTheir Children, tonight.

So much of why this painting is good, it happens in my imagination. Rubens paints his own world, he looks old, reflective, with a nice, young, plump wife, who you could feel.

She could be the girl next door, or a lady on the Subway…. The hands are exquisite, and all the energy happens in the imagination.

No wonder great art never truly ages.