The Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens is probably the most important
foreign artist to have worked in England. The story of how this came to
be, of what he did when he was in England and what he painted for King
Charles I is the story of this book. Charles and his father, the first
Stuart monarchs of Great Britain, led and promoted a great wave of
interest in the arts, in particular the visual arts, that culminated in
Rubens painting nine large canvases to decorate the ceiling of Inigo
Jones's Banqetting Hall, the ceremonial centre of the Court in
Whitehall - a monument that is still intact today. It is this cycle, an
hitherto unappreciated masterpiece of Baroque state art, that is the
focus of this book. How Rubens came to obtain the commission is a tale
of international politics and diplomacy in which the artist himself
played a significant role. The author relates these complex political
relationships and missions with great insight and clarity, and in doing
so also describes the cultural and social setting in which Rubens found
himself while in London. The illustrations that accompany the text
include not only many of Rubens's own paintings and drawings made when
he was in London, but also some of the now well-known works by the
Italian and North European Renaissance masters that Rubens would have
seen in the magnificent art collections of the King and the English
aristocracy. Foremost however among the illustrations are the
reproductions of the Banqueting Hall ceiling itself: these are mostly in
colour, showing each of the three central scenes both complete and with
striking details that would be difficult to see in the Hall itself. Also
the corner oval painting as well as the long, celebratory, exuberant
processions on either side are reproduced in colour and in detail, so
that the reader, guided by the author's full descriptions and
interpretations, can experience a unique viewing and understanding of
Rubens's masterpiece.
