George Frideric Handel was a composer of amazing talents and abilities. Although in today's society he is not as well known as Bach, his work was kept in high regards by the people of the time. Both Handel and Bach were born in 1685 about a month apart, and together the world was stunned by the masterpieces created by these great minds. Handel, being born on February 23, in Halle, Germany, was not from a musical family. As a child he was introduced to the harpsichord by his aunt, and soon after

Rubens was born in exile at Siegen, Westphalia, where his father had become the advisor and lover of Princess Anna of Saxony. After the death of his father in 1587, Rubens mother moved the family back to Antwerp. After studying the classics in a Latin school, and serving as a court page, Rubens decided to become a painter. He apprenticed with Tobias Verhaecht, Adam van Noort, and Otto van Veen, three minor Flemish painters influenced by the 16th century Mannerist artists of the Florentine - Roman school. By the age of 21, the young Rubens was awarded the rank of master painter of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke.4 Like many of the European artists, Rubens felt the need to travel to Italy, the center of European art for the previous two centuries. In 1600 he arrived in Venice where he was inspired by the paintings of Titian, Paolo Veronese, and Tintoretto. For the next nine years, Rubens was employed by Vincenzo Gonzaga who was the duke of Mantua from 1587 to 1612. In the year 1608, Rubens went back to Antwerp for the funeral of his mother. While in Antwerp, Rubens met Isabella Brant who he married in 1609.4 The success and reputation of Rubens had followed him back to Antwerp where began to work for the Austrian archduke Albert and his wife Isabella. The number of pictures requested from Rubens was so large that he established an enormous workshop in which the master did the initial sketch and final touches, while his apprentices completed all the intermediary steps. Between 1622 and 1630, Rubens value as a diplomat was equal to his importance as a painter. Rubens continued to work until he was physically unable to do so any longer and in 1640 he died.

Much of the changing styles in art and music during the baroque period can be contributed to George Frideric Handel and Peter Paul Rubens along with many other popular composers and artists. The work that these two men contributed forever shaped the way we look at music and art. Without the work of Handel, we may never have the experience of an opera, and without Rubens we may never have the opportunity to see the wonderful art produced from the baroque period. Each man had his contribution to the world, whether it be in the form of a painting, a drawing, or a piece of music, and without these contributions, the world would have missed out on the phenomenal talents shared with us from the baroque period.

4. Baroque and Rococo Art Bazin, Germain, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., Publishers, 1964

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