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FRAMING INFORMATION
1st Art Gallery offers the option to receive your painting ready to hang or rolled in a tube.
Currently, for safety, we're able to ship framed paintings only up to a certain size. Once the maximum size is reached, the framing option is automatically disabled.
However, if you are interested in stretching or framing a painting larger than 24x36 inches (60x90 cm), please contact one of our customer success associates or let us know in your order notes. We will send you a catalog of our large framing styles and pricing options.
Unframed rolled canvas orders will arrive rolled inside a protective tube with an extra 1.5" white canvas on all sides so you can easily frame it locally.


The Union of Earth and Water is an impressive painting created in the year of 1618 by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens had the opportunity to receive a formal Renaissance humanist education. During his early years, he was trained by Tobias Verhaecht. When he was 23, he moved to Italy. There, he was influenced by artists like Tintoretto and Veronese, which became immensely noticeable in his paintings, but he also manages to come up with a completely new approach to the Classics.
In this painting, created in 1618, Rubens represents the Earth as Cybele, the Greek goddess mother, and the Water as Neptune. Cybele has pale skin and pulled back brown hair filled with tiny little pearls. Neptune is a muscular older figure, with long hair and a beard. He wears a laurel wreath, his skin is tanned, darker than Cybele’s, and he is holding his famous Triton. In the back, the goddess Victoria with dark wings appears crowning the coupe while wrapped in a gorgeous red cloth.
On the bottom, Triton emerges from the water with long silver wet hair and announces the new couple through a conche. The layout is centered and balanced, yet the whole painting is in movement. Right in the middle, there is a jug pouring water into the ocean from where Triton emerges. Both Cybele and Neptune are leaning on this water jug, creating a triangle towards the middle of the composition.
The scene has a complex background. Rubens frames the pictures on the foreground, leading some adjacent figures, which gives the viewer a sense of continuity. It feels like the figures are standing on the corner of a vast landscape.There is a wide tree trunk behind them. To the left-hand side, there is a tall vertical cornucopia filled with fruits and vegetables and a tiger biting into it. Cybele’s right hand is holding the cornucopia in a very symbolic gesture.
Rubens doesn’t add much contrast to his pieces, making all of the figures brightened and protagonists of the painting. The drama comes from the movement created by the curves and shapes. The color palette of this painting is rather warm as if the whole scene was being bathed by hot sunlight.
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Real Oil Paints, Real Brushes, Real Artists, Real Art. The Certificate of Authenticity which arrives with every painting provides an assurance and verifies the authenticity of the hand painted fine art reproduction you purchased. Each oil painting is created by hand using only the finest canvas and oil paints available.
Important Notes About Your Painting:
If you have any request to alter your reproduction of The Union of Earth and Water c. 1618, you must email us after placing your order and we'll have an artist contact you. If you have another image of The Union of Earth and Water c. 1618 that you would like the artist to work from, please include it as an attachment. Otherwise, we will reproduce the above image for you exactly as it is.
- Ordered without a frame, it will be delivered in protective tube within 21-28 business days.
- When ordering the painting framed - allow additional 5-7 days for delivery. The painting will arrive ready to hang.
- Every painting is painted by an experienced artist.
- No printing or digital imaging techniques are used.
- 100% hand painted oil painting on artist grade canvas.
- Painting comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
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- Hand crafted means unique to every owner. Each canvas reproduction may vary slightly in brush details due to the nature of being hand painted, so no two paintings are the same.
- For those customers who appreciate quality and want to own an artist's work as it was meant to be enjoyed we are here for you.

Free shipping is included in the price of the painting. Once the painting is ready and dry enough to ship, we will roll it and ship it in a sturdy cardboard tube.
We always ship express via courier to ensure your order reaches you as soon as possible - normally within three business days. The total delivery time from the moment you place your order until the package is delivered to your door is normally between three to four weeks.

If, in the unlikely event you were dissatisfied with the painting after reviewing it in person, it can be returned for a full refund for up to 365 days after delivery.
When you receive the painting; you are free to return it for more revisions or else for a full refund minus our actual shipping cost -- which is, on average, $35 per painting.

1st Art Gallery provides a full warranty covering manufacturing and material defects for paintings purchased from our website. The warranty covers damage for normal use. Damage caused by incidents such as accidents or inappropriate use are not covered.
Depending on the degree of damage to the warranted painting, it will either be repaired or replaced. This warranty service is provided free of charge.
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