Priest carrying the eucharist to a dying person, before 1630 (oil on canvas)

Detail from Rubens' portrayal of the deed of devotion made by Rudolph I (1218-91) King of the Romans and founder of the Habsburg dynasty; in this story, Rudolph, while out hunting, met a a priest and sacristan taking the eucharist to a dying man but unable to cross a swift flowing river; as an act of devotion and piety the king and his page gave their horses to the priest and sacristan so that they could reach the dying man; in 1630 the picture was in the collection of the great art collector, Marquis de Leganes, who acquired many works by Flemish artists during his service in the Spanish Netherlands, and later passed to the Spanish royal collection; the figures in this painting were by Rubens but the background landscapes were by Jan Wildens (1586-1653);