This internationally important scheme – the only decorative ensemble by Peter Paul Rubens to remain in its original location – is comprised of nine ceiling canvases set within decorative coffer compartments (installed in 1636), the positions of which were intended to indicate the different stages of procession towards the King, symbolically positioned at the southern end of the hall during occasions of state. The canvases are very large, filling a total area of 255y 500sq.ms, and were commissioned by Charles I in 1629-30.

Paine and Stewart have undertaken a series of detailed condition surveys of the ceiling for Historic Royal Palaces in 2005, 2014 and 2016. These explored for the first time in the history of the paintings all information pertaining to the conservation history, technique and condition of the paintings, and also ascertained whether any active deterioration had occurred in the intervening period between surveys. A highly ambitious photographic recording of the entire ceiling under ultra-violet illumination (unique in its scale and ambition) was also carried out to assess the nature of later restorations and other surface alterations across the entire ceiling.