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| Nicolas Poussin Hunt of Meleager & Atalanta c. 1634-39 Prado |
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| Nicolas Poussin Feast of Priapus c. 1634-39 |
A Palace for a King by Jonathan Brown and J.H. Elliott describes in some detail the scramble for paintings that went on in 1630s Madrid for the purpose of decorating the new royal palace of Buen Retiro. Nicolas Poussin's pair of frieze-style classical fantasies (above) were acquired in Rome at this time by the Marquis of Castel Rodrigo who was the Spanish King's Ambassador to the Vatican. Meleager & Atalanta remains at the Prado to this day, but the Feast of Priapus fell into English hands during the Peninsular Wars at the end of the 18th century. At present it is privately owned by a rich person in Brazil.
A series of scenes from ancient Roman public life as imagined by Giovanni Lanfranco (1583-1647) were purchased for the Spanish King by the Count of Monterrey, Viceroy of Naples.
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| Giovanni Lanfranco Oration by Roman Emperor 1638 Prado |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco Funeral for Roman Emperor c. 1636 Prado |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco Gladiators at Roman Banquet c. 1638 Prado |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco & Workshop Battle of Gladiators 1630s Prado |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco Water Battle of Gladiators c. 1635 Prado |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco Roman Emperor Sacrificing to Gods c. 1635 Prado |
In the same shipment Monterrey was able to include Roman history paintings by Andrea Camassei (1602-1649) and by Domenichino (1581-1641). The latter's Funeral for a Roman Emperor (below) was conceived as an archaeological reconstruction based on literary sources, in contrast to Lanfranco's more impressionistic and emotionally subjective depictions.
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| Domenichino Funeral for a Roman Emperor c. 1634-35 Prado |
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| Andrea Camassei Lupercalian Scene c. 1635 Prado |
Massimo Stanzione (1586-1656), also working in Naples, contributed a series (partially represented below) from the exemplary life of St. John the Baptist, as elaborated by non-Biblical tradition.
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| Massimo Stanzione Birth of St. John the Baptist Announced by an Angel 1635 Prado |
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| Massimo Stanzione St. John the Baptist Taking Leave of his Family 1635 Prado |
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| Massimo Stanzione St. John the Baptist Preaching 1635 Prado |
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| Massimo Stanzione Beheading of St. John the Baptist 1635 Prado |
As Brown and Elliott write – "The numerous works sent by Castel Rodrigo from Rome, combined with those acquired by Monterrey in Naples, meant that by 1641 the Retiro contained nine or ten large landscapes by Claude, four major works by Poussin, six by Lanfranco, together with paintings by Sacchi, Domenichino and a host of lesser lights. For a brief moment, Central Italian Baroque painting was represented more fully in Spain than anywhere outside Italy itself."