Creating a subplot will delete any pre-existing subplot that overlaps
with it beyond sharing a boundary::
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# plot a line, implicitly creating a subplot(111)
plt.plot([1,2,3])
# now create a subplot which represents the top plot of a grid
# with 2 rows and 1 column. Since this subplot will overlap the
# first, the plot (and its axes) previously created, will be removed
plt.subplot(211)
plt.plot(range(12))
plt.subplot(212, facecolor='y') # creates 2nd subplot with yellow background
f = plt.figure("Legend test")
ax = f.subplot(111)
line = ax.plot([1, 2, 3], label='Line')
ax.legend()
f.show()