Peter Paul Rubens, Saint Bavo is received by Saints Amand and Floribert

This painting is a preliminary sketch for the central panel of an altarpiece Rubens made for St Bavo’s Cathedral, Ghent. It depicts a scene described in a biography of Saint Bavo that appeared in 1583, written by the theologian Joannes Molanus.

Saint Bavo, formerly called Count Allowin of Haspengouw, was a Roman soldier who renounced his role in the military to become a monk. Here, he is shown being received by Saint Floribert, abbot of the monastery of Liège, who bends towards him, and Saint Amand, whose compelling sermon about the futility of material things convinced Saint Bavo to dedicate his life to God. Behind them, a cleric holds the black habit of a Benedictine monk, a replacement for Saint Bavo’s armour. In the foreground, a man hands out the saint’s riches to the poor, while two courtiers to the right appear to be looking on the scene with disgust. One of them even prods the beggars with his staff.

Rubens has depicted this hectic scene in bright, vivid colours, using short and rapid brushstrokes. The way that light reflects off the surface of Saint Bavo’s breastplate draws attention to him, and the gold robes of the clerics seem to glisten in the sunlight. The brightness causes the background figures to appear hazy – Rubens has used a muted palette of pale grey and blue tones to paint them in grisaille. Saint Bavo’s red cape also helps him stand out against the crowd: its colour contrasts with the grisaille background figures, the dark grey and purple shades of the courtier’s doublet and the yellow, brown and grey tones worn by the other saints and monks.

The detailed features in the foreground and centre also contrast with the background figures, which are roughly sketched out as a mass of forms without individual characteristics. Rubens produced hundreds of oil sketches; some were used to plan out the composition and particular details of a painting, as seems to be the case with this one, while others were so detailed that they appeared to be finished paintings in their own right.

Some pentimenti can be seen using X-radiography and infrared reflectography. The face of the deacon who stands behind Saint Amand has been altered, and there may have been the head and hand of another beggar just to the left of the man who hands out Saint Bavo’s money. The positions of some of the children surrounding the mother in the foreground have also been changed.