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Directly after his return from Italy, the 32 year old Rubens married the 18 year old Isabella Brant. This double portrait, which broke new ground in portrait painting, was purportedly done shortly thereafter. Rubens did not however give up using traditional symbolism: Honeysuckle was a well known symbol for faithfulness and hands laid over one another ("dextrarum iunctio") have symbolized matrimony since ancient times. However these references are integrated into this snapshot-like scene in which middle-class contentedness, substantial affluence and strong affection are expressed.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup><div class="reflist" style="list-style-type: decimal;">
<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110606170051/http://www.pinakothek.de/peter-paul-rubens/rubens-und-isabella-brant-der-geissblattlaube">Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen</a></span>
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<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Peter_Paul_Rubens" class="extiw" title="w:en:Peter Paul Rubens"><span title="Flemish painter (1577-1640)">Peter Paul Rubens</span></a>
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circa 1609/1610
<cite class="book" style="font-style:normal">The Yorck Project (2002)      <i> 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei</i> (DVD-ROM), distributed by <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:10,000_paintings_from_Directmedia" title="Commons:10,000 paintings from Directmedia">DIRECTMEDIA</a> Publishing GmbH.  <small><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number" class="extiw" title="en:International Standard Book Number">ISBN</a>:  <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3936122202" title="Special:BookSources/3936122202">3936122202</a>. </small></cite>