17th Century

“This [De Heem] is the exceptional flower still life the Getty Museum has been seeking for over two decades,” said Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “With its energetic composition, strong palette and diverse botanical elements, ‘Glass Vase with Flowers and Fruit’ will be the most consequential addition to our collection of northern Baroque paintings since we acquired ‘Rembrandt Laughing’ in 2013.”

The fact that this painting is damaged should not diminish its significance within the artists oeuvre. It is highly unusual for, a work of art of this importance to come to auction with the central feature, in this case the head of the saint, summarily removed. More often it is the fragment itself which has been removed from a larger, damaged work which appears on the market. In the absence of the missing part of this painting, it could be argued that the very loss it has suffered imbues the painting with a sense of dramatic intensity, evoking a visceral response almost akin to the reaction experienced with certain contemporary works of art. Ricardo Lattuada draws parallels between the impact of the present painting in its damaged state, with the conceptual work of emilio Isgrò (b.1937) who is known for his use of creative erasure, a technique of removing words from books to turn absence into meaning.

Active in Brussels in the middle of the 17th century, Michaelina Wautier challenged the limits imposed on female artists at the time by working on an unusually varied range of subjects: from flowers and portraits to grand history paintings – a format usually reserved for her male counterparts.

In her most famous painting, The Triumph of Bacchus, she painted herself as a pagan bacchante in monumental scale, looking squarely at the viewer and confidently asserting her position as the maker.

Although Wautier was hugely successful in her time, her breathtaking paintings and her place in art history were almost lost in the 18th century.

With the exhibition At Home with Jan Steen – 400 Years of Merrymaking, Museum De Lakenhal celebrates Jan Steen's 400th birthday. In this exhibition, you will discover how the Leiden artist used his children, spouses, friends and pub as inspiration for his paintings. The exhibition offers a surprising glimpse into everyday life in the 17th century and the humour and humanity that make his paintings so beloved. Through his works and those of other artists of his time, you will embark on a journey of discovery through Steen's world full of humour, chaos and hidden messages.

This book examines the Court Beguinages, a fascinating group of semi-monastic female communities that were endemic to cities of the Southern Low Countries from the thirteenth century into the twentieth.

Their members, called Beguines, played fundamental social and religious roles in their communities, and they also became major patrons of art and architecture, building vast complexes and filling them with paintings, sculptures, prints, textiles, and all sorts of other decorative objects. As the first comprehensive and primary source-driven account of Court Beguinage visual culture, this study explores the historical importance of these institutions and reveals how the Beguines used buildings and images to support devotional practice, shape public perception, raise funds, and negotiate power relationships during the Counter Reformation.

While the cycle may lack the same recognition held by the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and other treasures held by the Louvre, these Rubens paintings are some of the key works of their time. But despite their fame, the paintings are currently be exhibited in an “unsatisfactory state,” according to the Louvre, whose 2016 analysis triggered an internal investigation into the works. In 2020, upon further research, experts with the Louvre expressed “grave concern” about the works, the museum said.

“The works are no longer in a suitable state for display,” the museum said. “Specifically, the varnishes have generally yellowed (due to oxidation), and retouching from earlier restorations has become visually discordant—and therefore visible—detracting from the proper appreciation and interpretation of the paintings.”

The Louvre will now remedy this, turning the gallery into what it described as a “restoration studio” where its team can refurbish the works once more.

Built up over 400 years by the Cavendish family and their descendants, The Portland Collection is vast and varied. The World’s Mine Oyster: Art, Nature and Collecting the Globe explores the stories behind the collection for the first time, revealing how the Cavendish family saw and used the natural world, both at home and across the world. 

Ary de Vois’s The Artist as Lover (c. 1660s) is an oil on copper painting by the celebrated Leiden school fine painter. Vois’s elegant works are marked by practically invisible brushwork, sharp attention to detail, and enamel-like finishes. A miniature that may once have been paired with a pendant portrait of his wife, this work is the first by Vois in the collection and one of only a few self-portraits in the National Gallery’s repository of Dutch paintings.

“After more than a year of negotiations,” said Minister Alessandro Giuli, “we announce today the purchase by the Ministry of Culture of an extraordinary masterpiece by Caravaggio, the ’Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini.’ This is a work of exceptional importance, attributed to the Master by Roberto Longhi, which is now offered for the full enjoyment of the public and the international scientific community, just a few months after its first exhibition in a museum, which took place at Palazzo Barberini. This acquisition, together with the recent acquisition of Antonello da Messina’s ’Ecce Homo,’ is part of a broader project to strengthen the national cultural heritage that the Ministry of Culture will continue to pursue in the coming months, with the aim of making accessible to scholars and enthusiasts some masterpieces of art history otherwise destined for the private market. I would like to thank all the institutions, officials and technicians who worked with great skill and dedication so that a result of this significance could be achieved.”

Giovanni Baglione in his Lives of 1642 describes her as a woman educated to independence and from a very young age introduced by her father to painting and humanistic studies and deeply attached to her father. The painting was commissioned from her by Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Guido di Bagno and is inspired by the composition of the same title painted in 1621 by her father at the behest of Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, which is now preserved at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

These Scholarships have supported the studies of graduate students in MA, MPhil and PhD programmes across the globe, with the aim of contributing to their academic and professional development. The Scholarship recipient will also be awarded a paid internship at The Klesch Collection lasting a minimum of 6 weeks, allowing them to gain experience in the daily operations of a private art collection. Candidates will be selected based on merit and the overall quality of the application.

Who can apply?

Applicants must have been accepted into a full-time Art History MA or PhD course of study worldwide, beginning the next academic year, and preference will be given to applicants who have completed their undergraduate degree in Art History. PhD students are welcome to apply for any year in their programme. Applications will be considered only from students who will focus/are focusing their studies on European and British painting of the Renaissance and Baroque periods (c. 1400–1700) and who intend to write their thesis or dissertation in this area.

For many decades, technical research into Rembrandt’s paintings has provided invaluable insights into his materials, techniques, and creative process. Through the combined efforts of art historians, conservators, and scientists, a steadily growing body of knowledge has transformed our understanding of his practice. Recent advances in imaging technologies and material analysis have further deepened this perspective, revealing new facets of Rembrandt’s working methods and shedding fresh light on his artistic innovations. Through fascinating case studies and in-depth investigations, the symposium will reflect on the interaction between art historians, conservators and scientists, highlighting the research methodologies employed to unravel complex art historical and scientific questions.

The ‘New Directions in Rembrandt Research’ symposium, which will consist of a full day of lectures from art historians, conservators and scientists, has been conceived and curated by Petria Noble. Recently retired from the Rijksmuseum, her contributions to Rembrandt studies, together with those of colleagues she has worked with over the years, have helped shape new directions in the field.