Exhibition: 24 February – 26 May 2024
National Gallery of Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), An Old Man in Military Costume, 1630-1631
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Artists in the Low Countries were intrigued by the human face and often depicted it. And not only in portraits. They also painted countenances where the model’s identity did not matter. Think of Quinten Metsijs’ grotesque heads, Pieter Bruegel’s peasant mugs, Peter Paul Rubens’ studies of a head and the expressive visages by Adriaan Brouwer and Rembrandt. These works, sometimes called ‘mugs’, do not represent someone but something. Not a specific person but a type, feeling, or character trait.
Turning Heads explores the story behind these intriguing heads and showcases them in all their diversity. Rooted in innovative scholarly research, the project is translated into something light-hearted and accessible. The exhibition features a high-quality selection of some sixty works including prestigious loans of Flemish Masters (Metsijs, Bruegel, Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and Brouwer) and leading international artists (Dürer, Bosch, Barocci, Rembrandt and Vermeer). The Antwerp Old Masters were phenomenal painters of faces.
Knights of the Golden Fleece: a Brilliant Myth Unraveled
Museum Hof van Busleyden
Mechelen, Belgium
Exhibition: 24 February – 2 June 2024
Mounted knights ride through Mechelen’s Grote Markt in a colorful procession. It is 1491, and a special chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece has descended on the city on the Dyle. A little golden ram’s fleece glitters on a neck chain in the spring light. The symbol of a knightly order that captures the imagination to this day. A symbol of not just power, but elitism, religion and political allegiance.
The exhibition entitled Knights of the Golden Fleece: a Brilliant Myth Unraveled allows you to relive the gathering of the knights in 1491, one of the biggest and most significant festivities in the history of Mechelen. Your introduction to the famous Burgundian knighthood is made through a unique set of 15th-century coats of arms, created especially for the Mechelen convocation. This is the first time that the 29 coats of arms have been visible at such close quarters since their restoration.
The exhibition disentangles the political intrigues and plotting behind one of Europe’s earliest political alliances – described by some as the forerunner to the European Union. Does the EU wish to align itself here with the grand tradition of the Burgundian Dukes? And while the Order may be a forerunner of the European Union, would we necessarily want it as our model for the future?