RUBENS, Peter Paul
(b. 1577, Siegen, d. 1640, Antwerpen)

Decius Mus Relating his Dream

1616-17
Oil on canvas, 294 x 278 cm
Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna

The Decius Mus cycle of paintings, consisting eight pictures, cover all aspects of the victory and death of the Roman consul. It is the earliest of Rubens's cycles, and it was created as cartoons for tapestries. From this cycle several series of tapestries were woven in Jan Raes's Brussels manufactory during the seventeenth century.

The picture shows one of the eight paintings of the cycle.