Louis Gallait (1810-87) born in Tournai, trained under Cornelis Cels and Philippe Auguste Hennequin in the neo-classical style. He moved to Antwerp, and was a pupil of Mathieu Ignace van Brée (see RCIN 405277). He was a member of the academies of Brussels, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, and, in 1853, Vienna. He showed his paintings in London from 1836 to 1872, and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in 1862. His painting 'The Last Rites given to Counts Egmont and Hoorn' was considered the jewel in the collection of the Museum at Tornai. He was judged to have successfully melded elements of the French romantic and classical traditions. This is one of four paintings of Gallait acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert between 1846 and 1850 (RCIN 400820, 403630, 405060 & 406466).

Honoured in the Middle Ages as the patron of huntsmen, St Hubert was born around 656. He was the eldest son of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and grandson of Charibert, King of Toulouse. On a Good Friday whilst out hunting, he saw a vision of a crucifix between the antlers of a stag, and heard a voice warning him against his life of pleasure. He gave away his possessions, gave up his birthright to the Duchy of Aquitaine to his younger brother, and entered the priesthood. He was the first bishop of Liège, and was responsible for ridding parts of the Brabant of paganism. He died at Fura, (Tervueren), around 727.

St Hubert crouches beneath an earthy bank close to the gnarled roots of a large tree; he restrains his nervous black stallion with his left arm as two hounds bound towards him. To the left a stag stands in the gloom, beneath the overhanging trees, with a glowing crucifix between its antlers.