Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery at Brussels

David Teniers the Younger completed this Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery at Brussels in 1651. The scene shows the Archduke admiring his Italian art collection with friends, while Teniers himself stands hatless, listening to his patron gesture toward recent acquisitions. Paintings cover the walls from floor to ceiling.

Teniers became court painter and de facto curator of the Archduke's collection at the Coudenberg Palace in Brussels. He created eleven such gallery paintings, documenting the collection before it moved to Vienna. In 1659, Teniers published the Theatrum Pictorium, considered the first illustrated art catalog, based on these paintings.

Most of the 51 Italian works shown here are now at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, along with this painting. The work served both as a portrait of aristocratic taste and as an inventory of valuable artworks. Another version hangs at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.