In 1630, Rubens who is settled in Anvers marries in a second marriage Hélène Fourment. In the huge studio he has had built, he paints several portraits of Hélène, in the garden, in furs, in a carriage, which are minutely analysed in this film. For he does not content himself with making a simple portrait but tries to portray she whom her admirers had compared to Homer's Helen and to transcribe in allegoried form, all the attributes of the femininity.