From the museum’s website, 14 March 2019

From Nero …

At the end of the 15th century, the underground ruins of the fabled imperial palace of Nero were rediscovered in Rome: the Domus Aurea. Curious visitors found colourful murals on the walls, with lavish, symmetrical decorations. A rich array of bizarre animals and mythical creatures could be found incorporated. These decorations would go down in history as ‘grotesques’ (or grottoesque) due to the finds being discovered in ‘grotto-like’ ruins.

to the Renaissance …

Ever since their discovery and especially during the Renaissance, these antique grotesques have inspired artists. Hans Vredeman de Vries and Frans and Cornelis Floris de Vriendt introduced this exuberant and imaginative ornamentational style to the Netherlands through their printmaking. Thanks to their printed designs with endless variations, they spread grotesque ornamentation to other art branches. Grotesques soon found their way into painting, architecture, precious metalworking, glass painting and book printing.

to Ensor

In sixteenth-century Netherlands, Bosch and Bruegel were the great pioneers with their printed drolleries. Modern and contemporary artists follow in their footsteps and works by James Ensor, Fred Bervoets and René De Coninck show that the attraction of the grotesque still lives on in art.

The exposition

In the exposition you will discover prints by Vredeman de Vries and Frans Floris, an exceptional series of sixteenth-century design drawings by Paul Vredeman de Vries and prints from Bosch, Bruegel, Ensor and others, through to Bervoets and De Coninck.