From the museum website
For the first time an art historical encounter between the Northern and the Southern Netherlands will take place at the Rijksmuseum. Some fifty 17th-century paintings from the north and the south on the same themes will be hung face to face. This will reveal how northern and southern artists, among them such famous names as Rubens and Van Dyck, handled and developed identical subject matter.
The highlight of this presentation will undoubtedly be the three portraits by Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) which the Rijksmuseum acquired in 2001. After being cleaned and restored, they can now be seen in their original glorious colours. These paintings and other masterpieces from Antwerp will be hung opposite works by such famous North Netherlands contemporaries as Frans Hals and Bartholomeus van der Helst.
Originally scheduled to close on 15 March 2003; extended for three days in connection with the visit to the Rijksmuseum of the delegates to CODART ZES on 18 March.
Publication
Accompanied by a dossier publication by Nico van Hout: Flemish masters: Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and their contemporaries, Zwolle (Waanders) and Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 2002. ISBN 90-400-8757-1. 48 pages.
Dutch edition: Vlaamse meesters: Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens en tijdgenoten, ISBN 90-400-8719-9.