Fine art fans may be surprised to learn that Spain’s Prado National Museum in Madrid holds the largest collection of works by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens. The majority of them come from the collection of King Philip IV (1605–65), who Rubens often painted for. One of Spain’s greatest masters, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was influenced by Rubens.
Rubens painted some 1,400 artworks, although some experts say as many as 1,800. Rubens’s prolific output wouldn’t have been possible without his workshop.The Prado’s new exhibition “Rubens’s Workshop” shows how European artists worked together to create masterful works. It provides a fascinating insight into Rubens’s painting process in the European workshop tradition.
