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oil on canvas In a letter dated February 23, 1608, Padre Flamminio Ricci wrote to his fellow Oratorian Padre Francesco Francellucci, the Superior at the Oratory of Fermo: I have contracted with the painter who has done our picture for the High Altar (which has just been valued at 800 scudi), that he should paint a picture of the Nativity for the altar about which you write to me, taking due account of the measurements sent, of the information about the lighting, and of the price which I have fixed at 200 scudi. There will be in addition, the stretcher on which he has to do the painting, which means an extra 6 julians (it would have cost more than 20, but I am making use of one which I had made for one of our own altars by having it enlarged in both directions). When the picture is finished it will have to be taken off the stretcher in any case, and sent rolled up; so it won't remain on this makeshift. I'll pay carriage to you; and I hope that it will be finished at Easter. I'll give you notice near the time, in order that the money may be available on the dot; because when this work is done, he will go off to Mantua. He is ordinarily employed by the Duke. He is a Fleming ,but from his youth schooled in Rome. I hope that in colouring and grace it will be the greatest success and give satisfaction (see Jaffé Literature below, p. 92)." The tantalizing document does not mention the name of the artist at all, concentrating much more on the mundane practicalities faced by any patron at the time (ecclesiastical or secular): what size will the picture be, when will it be done, how will it be shipped and-- always-- how much will it cost. Only at the end of the letter does Ricci hint at the artist himself-he is Flemish and not Italian-and almost as an afterthought admits his great talent for ``colouring and grace.'' The painter, of course, was the young Pieter Paul Rubens, an artist whom Ricci had become very familiar with over the previous mon