The Origin of the Milky Way (sketch for the Torre de la Parada

Rubens employs his distinctive Flemish Baroque technique, featuring vivid, expressive brushwork and a warm, earthy palette (notably yellow, gray, and brown), with the contrast of a deep red skirt, capturing the contrast between tranquility and energetic movement of the birds.

Commissioned for the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge near Madrid, as part of a series of mythological works, the painting is now part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium's collection.

Created during the Flemish Baroque period, the work draws on classical mythology, reflecting Rubens's common practice of blending mythological and sometimes Christian themes in his compositions.

As part of Rubens's prolific output, *The Origin of the Milky Way* contributes to the artist's reputation for dynamic, emotionally resonant mythological scenes, though its specific impact within his broader oeuvre is more nuanced and less frequently highlighted compared to some of his other works.