One of the most versatile and influential artists of northern Europe in the 7th century, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) had a remarkable ability to bring his paintings intensely and joyfully alive. He was a successful businessman who ran an efficient studio, and was also a classical scholar, an enthusiastic collector of art and antiquities, and a respected diplomat on intimate terms with European royalty. Contemporaries admired his extraordinary artistic versatility. His paintings include portraits, altarpieces, allegories and landscapes; he also designed tapestries, book illustrations, silverware and his own home.