In the mid-17th century, Peter Paul Rubens turned to the legendary birth of Rome, a subject that had fascinated artists for centuries, and created Romulus and Remus—a work notable for its dramatic energy and its place among several treatments of the myth by Rubens himself. The painting stands out because it was completed late in Rubens’s career, a period when he increasingly revisited classical themes with a new intensity. While the exact circumstances of this commission remain unclear, the enduring popularity of the story in both art and politics ensured its resonance with patrons seeking to align themselves with Rome’s mythic origins. At the heart of the scene, the infant twins Romulus and Remus lie nestled beneath the protective body of a she-wolf, her head turned alertly as if guarding them from unseen threats.

According to legend, in 753 BCE, the twins—abandoned by the order of King Amulius—were found and suckled by the wolf before being discovered by the shepherd Faustulus, who, in Rubens’s version, approaches from the shadows with his wife. The painter’s attention to muscular forms and dramatic contrasts of light and dark heightens the sense of danger and providence. The wolf’s tense posture and the twins’ vulnerability echo the dynamic compositions of Titian, whom Rubens admired and emulated, especially in his use of earthy tones and energetic brushwork. The precise provenance of Romulus and Remus is not fully documented, but it is characteristic of the mythological canvases Rubens produced for private collectors and learned patrons during the Baroque period.

Over the centuries, the painting has been attributed to various hands within Rubens’s workshop, a common occurrence given the collaborative nature of his studio. Today, the work is recognized as a testament to Rubens’s fascination with myth and his ability to breathe new life into ancient stories, securing its place among the treasures of European painting. Its current location is not definitively established, but it is often reproduced and studied as a prime example of Rubens’s late mythological style.