The Museo Nacional del Prado has received The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew, a late-period work by Rubens, on loan from the Carlos de Amberes Foundation. The painting will be displayed in gallery 16B of the museum’s Villanueva building until 2026. The loan coincides with renovations at the Carlos de Amberes Foundation, a private, non-profit organization in Madrid focused on promoting European culture and values.

The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew was created between 1636 and 1639 when Rubens was involved in the Torre de la Parada project.  It was commissioned by Jan van Vucht, an agent of the Plantin Printing House of Antwerp, for the main altar of the church of the former Hospital de San Andrés de los Flamencos, the origin of the Fundación Carlos de Amberes. It has belonged to the Fundación ever since Van Vucht donated it on his death in 1639. The altarpiece retains its original frame, which is attributed to cabinetmakers Abraham Lers and Julien Beymar.

The painting depicts a scene from the martyrdom of Saint Andrew, as recounted in Jacopo de la Voragine’s “The Golden Legend.” The composition draws inspiration from a version by Otto van Veen for the high altar of Saint Andrew’s Church in Antwerp (still in situ). A preparatory drawing by Rubens is held at the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.

The loan adds to the Prado’s existing collection of works by Rubens, considered the most extensive globally. It expands the Prado Museum’s presentation of seventeenth-century Flemish art and provides visitors with an opportunity to view a late-period work by Peter Paul Rubens.