Rubens in London. Art and Diplomacy

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. Rubens's cycle is an unappreciated masterpiece of Baroque state art, and is the focus of the 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; to realise the commission was one of the great challenges of his career.