Mastering the Human Form: Eakins’ “Wrestlers” and Rubens’ “Prometheus Bound”Through Time A body with six hundred muscles, two hundred and six bones and the endless amount of shades of skin we see on a singular human body. A difficult feat to paint the human body, yet so many people possess that talent and dedication to make art of that difficulty. Thomas Eakins “Wrestlers” and Peter Paul Rubens “ Prometheus Bound” depict the influences and styles of their era’s while showcasing this feat. Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was born in 1844 in Philadelphia to Benjamin Eakins and Caroline Cowperthwait. He was the eldest of four sisters, who lived a comfortable life in respect to their father. He took classes at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, …show more content…
Both paintings display the bodies in unconventional ways with Eakins having the bodies twisting together, and Ruben having the body stretch, although they each show a struggle. Not to mention, they both went to Spain and admired the artwork there. Nonetheless, both paintings show a struggle as the focus, human anatomy, and similarities in style. With Ruben’s we see very blended brush strokes with lines for highlights, line work, and extra detail. Eakin's style was softer compared to Ruben’s, less important details were blurred and the line work was softer along with the color scheme. The shading on both can be soft but slightly harsher in contrast to the lighter tones in the skin. On the facial expressions for Rubens painting, the brush strokes are more obvious but give more expression while Eakins are hidden and soft. Wrestlers contribute to our modern society by capturing the humanity of athleticism and struggle, just as the subject of Rubens painting does as well. For Eakins, he was able to help introduce the interest in sports and physical fitness that’s admired today. The painting also introduced the form of the human body to