In 1600, Peter Paul Rubens left his home in Antwerp to travel to Italy and study the Italian masters. Eight years later, in 1609, he returned to Belgium and quickly established himself as one of the foremost painters in Western Europe. Early Rubens explores the artist's work from 1609 until 1621, and how he rose to fame by creating multiple versions of paintings with subjects that had proven to be successful, and by seeking out collaborators to create more ambitious works than he could have done alone.