Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was one of the most inventive and prolific artists in the history of western art. After his early training in Antwerp, Rubens spent formative periods in Italy between 1600 and 1608. This book explores the ways in which Rubens studied, copied, and adapted the work of atists such as Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian. A large group of drawings by Italian artists, many of which were owned by Rubens and extensively transformed by him, are illustrated. These works show how Ruben's dialogue with Italian art went far beyond mere imitation and how his copies and adaptations attracted the attention of scholars and collectors from his lifetime onwards. I. Rubens and Fifteenth-Century Italian Art Andrea Mantegna; Giovanni Bellini II. Rubens and Sixteenth-Century Italian Art Artists working in Florence and Rome Leonardo da Vinci; Michaelangelo; Baldassare Peruzzi; Raphael; Polidori da Caravaggio; Polidoro's Facade at Palzzo Milesi; Giulio Romano; Perion del Vaga; Francesco Salviatti; Taddeo Zuccaro; Girolamo Maziano Artists working in Northern Italy Pordenone; Titian; Domenico Campagnola; Battista Franco; Giuseppe Porta; Paulo Veronese; Bartolomeo Passorotti III. Ruben's Italian Contemporaries Federico Berocci; Federico Zuccaro; Annibale Carracci