Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg

Charged with requesting Philip IV to grant the States General of the southern Netherlands the power to negotiate a truce or peace with the United Provinces, Aarschot was sent to Spain in December 1633 as the highest-ranking member of the nobility of the Duchy of Brabant.

Although initially received with great consideration by Philip IV, he was denounced four months after his arrival, accused of participating in the 1632 conspiracy to overthrow Spanish rule in the Netherlands.

Shortly before his death, Philip IV sent word that his case was under review and a favorable outcome was expected; the duke was too ill to rally, however, and he died the day after receiving the king's message.

The best known of several Rubens paintings that Arenberg owned was the Wolf and Fox Hunt, believed to be the work today in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The duke of Aarschot was also responsible for the acquisition of Rubens's late Martyrdom of St. Andrew for the Flemish Hospital in Madrid, where it still remains today.