The Rubens ceiling

The Power and the Glory

This huge oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens adorns the ceiling of the Banqueting House and was commissioned by Charles I as testament to the glory of the Stuart monarchs.

Banqueting House is the only remaining complete building of Whitehall Palace, the sovereign's principal residence from 1530 until 1698 when it was destroyed by fire. 

The grand scheme

This magnificent painting by Peter Paul Rubens remains the largest surviving work by the Flemish artist still in its original location in Europe. 

It was commissioned in 1629 by Charles I, although Rubens had originally been approached about the project by James I before the King died in 1625. 

The subject of the painting discussed was to be a celebration of the magnificent reign of the Stuart king. 

The perfect frame

In anticipation of the commissioned painting, Inigo Jones, the architect of the Banqueting House, had designed a great beamed ceiling with blank squares, rectangles and ovals, ready to take enormous decorated canvases. 

The paintings were completed by Rubens in 1634, and finally installed in the ceiling of the Banqueting House in early 1636. 

A challenging commission

The ceiling presented a huge challenge for Rubens. Never before had he worked on such a scale. The total painted area equalled 225 square metres (2420 sq ft). 

The three largest canvases were too big to be painted in his studio in Antwerp. Rubens and his small army of assistants (who painted the less important bits, such as the armour) had to work instead in the Antwerp Exchange and the refectory of a nearby Carmelite convent.

A measuring mix-up

When the paintings were finished they were rolled up for storage before shipping to England. However, Rubens’ illness and other factors delayed this for nearly a year, by which time the paint had started to crack. A spot of re-touching later and the paintings were on their way.

When the canvases arrived in England and were first unrolled on the floor, Inigo Jones and Rubens’ assistants realised with mounting horror that a miscalculation meant they were the wrong size to fit the ceiling spaces!

Paying the bill

After trimming some and expanding others, the paintings were finally installed. Charles I declared himself delighted.

Following an initial two-year delay, Rubens received £3,000 (the equivalent of £218,000 today) and a heavy gold chain as payment for his work.

A final irony

Rubens suffered painful gout, which prevented him from travelling to England. He never saw his paintings installed.

However, his royal patron Charles I must have reflected bitterly on their subject matter, the Divine Right of Kings.  The ceiling painting, glorifying the monarchy and showing his father ascending to heaven surrounded by angels, was one of Charles’ last  sights on earth as he walked beneath it to his death. 

Having lost the Civil War to the Parliamentarians, the King was executed on a specially-built scaffold just outside Banqueting House on 30 January, 1649.