The Royal Collection contains one of the finest and most varied collections of Old Master paintings in the world. The 147 works catalogued in the present volume are by Flemish artists who were active principally in the seventeenth century; they include a large and outstandingly good group of genre paintings by David Teniers the Younger, and other paintings by such diverse artists as Jan Brueghel, Gonzalez Coques, Frans Francken, Frans Snyders, Karl Philips Spierincks and Jan Wildens.

The most important group of works, however, are those by Rubens. The full range of the artist’s practice is represented in the collection. There are works that are entirely by his hand, and others that were carried out either with known collaborators or with the help of his studio.

The introduction to the catalogue gives a fully documented history of the growth of the collection from the early Stuarts to the reign of Queen Victoria. The close relations Charles I enjoyed with Rubens are discussed in detail, and there is a full account of the important acquisitions made by later members of the royal family, notably Frederick, Prince of Wales and George IV.