"Two celebrated and complementary collections of Rubens' sketches - in the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - are brought together to form the basis of this study of the artist's work." "Often regarded as one of the most compelling and remarkable aspects of the artist's work, Rubens' oil sketches reveal the genesis of many of his most important commissions. This book, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the Hermitage Rooms, Courtauld Institute of Art, focuses on Rubens' projects where the Hermitage and Courtauld holdings are exceptionally rich, including the ceiling of the Banqueting House at Whitehall, and the now lost ceiling of the Jesuit church in Antwerp. By bringing together preparatory material from a number of major commissions this book aims to provide a concentrated account of the role of the oil sketch in Rubens' work."--Jacket.