Coronation of the Virgin

On the painted ceilings of the Jesuit church in Antwerp, Rubens let some pictures answer one another across the building, and this small oil sketch belongs to one such pair. It was the model for the last ceiling over the galleries, on the south side, the first a visitor saw on entering from the west. Facing it on the north side was Moses praying on a hilltop while Aaron and Hur hold up his tired arms. Like Moses, the Louvre notes, the Virgin intercedes between God and humankind. Here God the Father and Christ raise a crown over her head, flanking her as the two men flanked the prophet. Rubens first worked the design out in grey monochrome, in a sketch now in Rotterdam, then in colour here. The ceiling paintings themselves were destroyed by fire in 1718.