Philip IV of Spain (ruled 1621–1665) was known as the 'Planet King', shining brightly in the universe of the arts even if the Golden Age of Spanish painitng coincided with imperial decline. The Buen Retiro Palace surpassed any palace ever built in Europe for the collection of paintings it contained, most of them commissioned in the 1630s from the finet painters in Europe at the time – Velázquez and Zurbarán, Rubens, Claude, Poussin, Jan Both, Herman van Swaneveld, Domenichino, Lanfranco and others.
 
This magnificent catalogue contains a mouthwatering display of paintings by these masters, and examines in particular the Battle Paintings and the Hercules series of the throne room (Hall of Realms), the Landscape Gallery, and the hitherto virtually unknown History of Rome cycle. Many of these works, already famous, are now seen in their original context, while others have remained uidentified in the Prado's storerooms until now.