Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe)

Peter Paul Rubens

c. 1636–1638 · Oil on panel · Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Size2:3 ratio

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$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe)

Samson and Delilah

The Descent from the Cross (central panel)

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About this work

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640)
Year: c. 1636–1638
Medium: Oil on panel
Original size: 176 × 83 cm
Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Movement: Baroque

Helena Fourment, Rubens's second wife, stands as if just out of the bath, a black fur mantle gathered round her shoulders and hips with one hand, her head turned to meet the viewer without embarrassment. The pose comes from the ancient Venus pudica and from Titian's Girl in a Fur, which Rubens had copied in Charles I's collection; both pictures play soft white skin against dark fur. But where Titian idealised, Rubens painted the dimpled knees and the marks a garter and bodice leave on flesh, and the result is a life-size portrait that is also the most private picture he made. He painted it around 1636 to 1638, in his last years, and left it to Helena in his will of 1640; it appears in her own will in 1658 and had reached the imperial gallery in Vienna by 1730. It hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum under the Flemish nickname Het Pelsken, the little fur.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; 12×18 and 16×24 and 24×36 also available framed in black or natural wood • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe) in the public domain?

Yes. Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Kunsthistorisches Museum.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe) painted, and in what medium?

Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe) dates from c. 1636–1638 and was made in oil on panel; the original measures 176 × 83 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe) (Peter Paul Rubens) — Het Pelsken (Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe) · Peter Paul Rubens · c. 1636–1638. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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