mission to Philip III. of Spain; executed at
Madrid some of his finest portraits; returned to Antwerp in 1609;
completed in 1614 his masterpiece, "The Descent from the Cross," in
Antwerp Cathedral; with the aid of assistants he painted the series of 21
pictures, now in the Louvre, illustrating the principal events in the
life of Maria de' Medici during 1628-1629; diplomatic missions engaged
him at the Spanish and English Courts, where his superabundant energy
enabled him to execute many paintings for Charles I.--e. g. "War and
Peace," in the National Gallery--and Philip IV.; was knighted by both; in
all that pertains to chiaroscuro, colouring, and general technical skill
Rubens is unsurpassed, and in expressing particularly the "tumult and
energy of human action," but he falls below the great Italian artists in
the presentation of the deeper and sublimer human emotions; was a
scholarly, refined man, an excellent linguist, and a successful
diplomatist; was twice married; died at Antwerp, and was buried in the
Church of St. Jacques; his tercentenary was celebrated in 1877
(1577-1640).

RUBICON, a famous river of Italy, associated with Julius Caesar, now
identified with the modern Fiumecino, a mountain torrent which springs
out of the eastern flank of the Apennines and enters the Adriatic N. of
Ariminum; marked the boundary line between Roman Italy and Cisalpine
Gaul, a province administered by Caesar; when he crossed it in 49 B.C. it
was tantamount to a declaration of war against the Republic, hence the
expression "to cross the Rubicon" is applied to the decisive step in any
adventurous undertaking.

RUBINSTEIN, ANTON, a famous Russian pianist and composer, born, of
Jewish parents, near Jassy, in Moldavia; studied at Moscow, under Liszt
in Paris, and afterwards at Berlin and Vienna; established himself at St.
Petersburg in 1848 as a music-teacher; became director of the
Conservatoire there; toured for many years through Europe and the United
States, achieving phenomenal success; resumed his directorship at St.
Petersburg in 1887; composed operas (e. g. "The Maccabees," "The
Demon"), symphonies (e. g. "Ocean"), sacred operas (e. g. "Paradise
Lost"), chamber music, and many exquisite songs; as a pianist he was a
master of technique and expression; was ennobled by the Czar in 1869;
published an autobiography; his works as well as his performances display
both vigour and sensibility (1829-1894).

RUBRICS, a name, as