After the completion of the two great masterpieces now in the cathedral Rubens was by universal acclaim acknowledged to be the foremost painter in Flanders and of his time. His studio was besieged by artists desirous of becoming the pupils of the brilliant master. As early as 1611 he wrote that he had already refused more than a hundred applicants. In 1614 he painted "The Conversion of St. Bavon," now in the cathedral of St. Bavon at Ghent; in 1617 "The Adoration of the Magi" in the church of St. John at Malines, and "The Last Judgment," now in the Pinacothek of Munich; in 1618 "The Miraculous Draught of Fishes" at Malines; in 1619 "The Last Communion of St. Francis," now in the museum at Antwerp, and, according to Fromentin, his greatest masterpiece; in 1620 the "Coup de Lance," now at the museum of Antwerp, and his finest work according to some other authorities. In 1622-23 he produced the twenty-four superb paintings of the Galerie des Medicis. The "Lion Hunt," and the "Battle of the Amazons," now in the Pinacothek at Munich, belong to this decade, together with the six paintings of the history of Decius in the Liechtenstein Gallery, and thirty-nine pictures for the church of the Jesuits, of which all but three were destroyed at the burning of the church in 1718. The three are in the museum of Vienna. [Illustration: "COUP DE LANCE."--RUBENS.] Here, in the space of a little over ten years, were nearly a hundred masterpieces--works of such magnitude that two or three would have sufficed to immortalise any other painter. Yet in addition to these labours he designed for the tapestry-workers of Brussels the life of Achilles in eight parts, the history of Constantine in twelve, and many other cartoons of extraordinary merit. His friend, Moretus, in accordance with the high traditions of the house of Plantin, came to him for designs for many books, and he drew borders, designs, title-pages and vignettes, and illustrated himself a book on cameos. He even painted triumphal arches and cars for ceremonial processions, and these works in his hands acquired a permanence of artistic value that is in itself one of the highest tributes to his genius. The fine portraits of Albert and Isabella, now in the museum at Brussels, were painted for a triumphal arch in the Place de Meir--yet they are masterpieces of portraiture, perfect and splendid down to the minutest detail!