Fat Positive Images: Sir Peter Paul Rubens

This series is an attempt to collect positive portrayals of fat men and women in art, media and life. 

I doubt there's many fat women in the world who haven't at one point or another heard the term "Rubenesque" applied to them.  Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish painter in the 17th century who frequently painted large men and women, frequently nudes, in sensuous detail. Every bulge and wrinkle is recorded and the whole is beautiful pieces of art with the bodies of real people.  Perusing his works is an excellent antidote to the airbrushed fantasy people often pictured today. 

Technically the term should be Rubensesque (Rubens-esque), but the first s is often dropped for easier pronnounciation (Ruben-esque).  The camp is split between those who think saying Rubensesque is grammatically correct, and those who think it's simply pretentious :-)