Rubens the master decorator rides into Royal Academy

He used to be called ‘The Prince of Painters’ – this old term of praise is today more like a warning lightThe first art blockbuster of 2015 will see Peter Paul Rubens riding into the Royal Academy, probably in a golden chariot pulled by four leopards with the muse of Painting at his side, a bevy of plump nymphs hailing his triumph and the gods declaring his apotheosis from fire-fringed clouds.The art of this Flemish painter who decorated palaces and banqueting halls, went on diplomatic and