The Rubenshuis has recently lent the painting The Picture Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest by Willem van Haecht (1593–1637) to the Museo del Prado for a period of two years, until March of 2026.
Painted in 1628, the painting shows the rulers of the Spanish Netherlands, Isabel Clara Eugenia and Albrecht of Austria, visiting the collection of the Antwerp merchant Cornelis van der Geest (1555-1638) in the company of many others, including Rubens.
Willem van Haecht (1593-1637), The Picture Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest, 1628
Rubenshuis, Antwerp
The painting is displayed in the Prado´s central gallery, amidst the largest extant collection of paintings by Rubens. It acts as an homage to the riches of Flemish art and the extraordinary patronage of Flemish painters by the Spanish Habsburgs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
In 2019, The Picture Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest was selected as one of the 100 Masterpieces of Dutch and Flemish art in the CODART Canon. Learn more about the painting on the Canon website.