CONFERENCE at the Academia Belgica – 13 October 2026, 5 pm
On 8 October M Leuven a major exhibition dedicated to the artistic exchanges in sculpture between the Netherlands and Italy during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries will be inaugurated. Through a selection of masterpieces from prestigious international museums, “Flemish Sculptors” tells a story of mutual influences, technical virtuosity and innovation. Sculptures, paintings, drawings and prints show how Dutch artists active in Italy contributed to the visual language of the Renaissance.
The conference will present the main themes, offering a preview of the rooms and some exceptional loans, including works by Giambologna, Adriaen de Vries, Egidio della Riviera, Nicolò Pippi and others, from institutions and collections such as the Vamp; A (London), Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), Louvre (Paris), Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna), Uffizi and Bargello (Florence), Galleria Borghese (Rome), Vatican collections, churches such as Santa Maria dell’Anima and private collections.
In addition to the art-historical perspective, the conference will also analyze “Flemish Sculptors” from the point of view of contemporary museology and exhibition studies, with attention to spatial presentation, social context and visitor experience.
Isabelle Van den Broeke is the Arts and Programmes team coordinator at M Leuven. Previously he worked at Tempora as Head of Design and Project Management. In 2013 he received a PhD in Art Sciences from the University of Ghent.
Marjan Debaene is chief curator and director of the Old Masters section at M Leuven and coordinator for M of the ARDS network, a platform dedicated to medieval sculpture. He has curated several exhibitions at M Leuven, including Borman and Sons (2019), Alabaster (2022) and, currently, Flemish Sculptors (2026).
The conference will be held in English.
To book, please contact: info@academiabelgica.it