Few images better capture the exuberance of Peter Paul Rubens’ Antwerp studio at its height than Music Making Angels, painted in 1626. This work forms part of a celebrated series of angelic musicians Rubens created for ecclesiastical settings, their popularity so great that his workshop produced several versions for churches across Flanders. The theme was particularly prized in the Counter-Reformation, when music was seen as a bridge between the earthly and the divine.

In Rubens’ hands, these angels became not only heavenly messengers but also a showcase for his dazzling command of movement and color. At the center of Music Making Angels, a radiant trio of cherubs leans into their instruments—lute, viol, and trumpet—caught in the act of playing a celestial harmony. Each angel is rendered with Rubens’ signature energy: rosy cheeks flush with effort, wings unfurling in a swirl of white and gold. The rich fabrics and gleaming instruments signal both the glory of heaven and the material splendor of the Church.

A shaft of light falls across the scene, illuminating the angels’ faces and drawing the viewer’s gaze upward, a visual echo of the music’s ascent. Compared to the more restrained angels of Guido Reni, Rubens’ figures are robust and almost tangible, their joy infectious. Though the original commission for this painting is not fully documented, works like Music Making Angels were often destined for altarpieces or organ lofts, enhancing the sacred atmosphere with both visual and imagined sound. Rubens’ studio assistants likely contributed to the execution, a common practice in his prolific workshop.

Over the centuries, versions of this painting have traveled through private collections and churches, sometimes attributed to Rubens himself, other times to his circle. Today, the painting stands as a vivid testament to the power of Baroque art to animate faith and delight the senses.