Leonie Steffen & Masha ChubenkoLisete Altma Aliet A Sarah Ferguson Joanna Tatarka Phoebe Dee Zowislo Kjnara Swanson Miao Ziyi Katrina Liksnite Lisete Altma Migoa Guol Leonie Steffen Shuping Li Masha Chubenko Aliet Ella Eckersley Eliza Rutson Pang Chun Jin Astrid meanwhile in the room we are looking at an original Rubens 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 paintings were completed by Rubens in 1634, and finally installed in the ceiling of the Banqueting House in early 1636. 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.
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!
The mix-up happened because although both England and Belgium used feet and inches, these were of different lengths in each country!