The saying that ‘nothing grows in the shade of tall trees’ is not always correct. In Beyond Rembrandt , the château de Chantilly presents masterpieces by seventeenth-century Netherlandish artists that are too often shadowed by the overwhelming figure of Rembrandt. Highlights of technical virtuosity, landscapes by Jacob van Ruisdael, scenes of rural folklore by Adriaen van Ostade, portraits of Anthony van Dyck, soldiers by Hendrick Goltzius, or pastoral idylls by Nicolaes Berchem and Paulus Potter plunge us into the collective imagination of an era that wanted to define itself as flourishing and optimistic. The dissemination of these engravings and etchings – magnifying every aspect of daily life – accompanied the revolts against Spanish domination in the first half of the century and, in 1648, led to the independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Whether seen in the context of their cultural identity and the political emergence of a nation in the making, these prints offer a privileged look at the visual culture of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and illuminate the utopia of a Golden Age’s main pillars.

After having displayed its Rembrandt holdings in 2018, the château de Chantilly continues the cataloguing of its collection with these previously unpublished prints by Dutch masters of the seventeenth century. This selection was brought together by Henri d’Orléans, duc d’Aumale (1822-1897), the most prominent French art collector of his lifetime, who rebuilt the château and laid the foundation for its collections. Finely advised by British dealers such as Colnaghi and Holloway, he purchased numerous trial proofs, rare states and even an unicum etched by Reinier Nooms.

The exhibition is curated by Baptiste Roelly, Conservateur du patrimoine, Musée Condé – Château de Chantilly, France

Related CODART publications