In the Southern Netherlands (now Belgium), the art of portrait painting came into full bloom during the period from 1400 to 1700. During these three centuries, noblemen and wealthy citizens had themselves immortalised by the best Flemish artists of their time. These portraits remain very impressive due to the outstanding way in which both the facial features and the character of the represented persons are laid down in paint.
During the autumn of 2017, the Mauritshuis will tell the story of Flemish portraiture using a selection of the best Flemish portraits from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA). The following are major works by Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Pieter Pourbus, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. These portraits will be presented here for the first time, along with complements from the Mauritshuis collection and a portrait of Jacob Jordaens from the Rijksmuseum. Remarkably, almost all those portrayed can be identified. This is why the exhibition will not only highlight what makes Flemish portraits so special, but also who had themselves portrayed and how they wanted to be seen.
The exhibition is only visible at the Mauritshuis, and is a collaboration with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA), which is closed until 2019 due to renovations.