The Golden Age of Flemish Art. Cabinets of Curiosities in the Age of Peter Paul Rubens introduces visitors to the life of seventeenth-century Antwerp and explores the intellectual and humanist environment that flourished in this major artistic center of Europe in the first half of the seventeenth century. The exhibition features 100 works from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum: paintings, drawings, sculpture, glyptics, tapestry samples, embossed leather, silverwork, and carved ivory.

The exhibition presents the full range of seventeenth-century Flemish painting: landscapes, portraits, historical and genre scenes, still lifes, and animal paintings. It showcases works by Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641), Frans Snyders (1579–1657), Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678), David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690), Frans Francken II (1581–1642), and others.

A special section is devoted to graphic art. Rubens himself collected drawings by earlier masters and used them in his work. On display are his own drawings (Head of Brutus, Sinners at the Last Judgment), sheets from his workshop, and engravings after his works.

Another highlight is the history of collecting. The Baroque era was the age of Kunstkammern and Cabinets of Curiosities, where collectors displayed their treasures. The exhibition presents several carved stones that once belonged to Rubens. Rare examples of decorative arts are also on view: colored glass, goldsmiths’ work, and exquisite cups made of shells or coconut. The exhibition also features traditional Flemish decorative arts that brought the region international fame: magnificent tapestries woven with gold thread, and delicate lace.

Curators: Tatyana Kosourova, Head of Decorative Arts Section, Department of Western European Applied Arts, and Vladislav Statkevich, Junior Research Fellow, Department of Western European Fine Arts; Curator of seventeenth-century Flemish Painting Collection