From the museum website, 28 December 2009
Rubens’s oil sketch of Neptune Calming the Tempest in the Fogg collection is a preparatory study for the left wing of the Stage of Welcome, a temporary stage built in honor of the triumphal entry of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp in 1635. This niche installation juxtaposes the sketch with an engraving of the final stage and with Renaissance prints and ancient coins and cameos that informed Rubens’s design.
Organized by Anna Knaap, Theodore Rousseau Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Paintings, Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Harvard Art Museum/Fogg Museum, in collaboration with Carmen Arnold-Biucchi, Damarete Curator of Ancient Coins, Harvard Art Museum/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, and lecturer on classics, Harvard University.