Information
With approximately 240 works, the collection of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Dutch painting is very extensive and a highlight of the Mainz picture gallery. Flemish and Dutch paintings are equally represented throughout all genres, making a direct comparison of various regions and schools possible. Prominent Flemish artists like Jan Brueghel the Elder, Jacob Jordaens and Otto van Veen are just as well represented as the Utrecht Caravaggists Dirck van Baburen and Gerrit Honthorst. In addition, names like Franz Post, Salomon van Ruysdael or Jan van Goyen illustrate the high quality of the Mainz collection.
Twelve excellent Dutch paintings are from the Napoleonic bequest of 1803 and form the foundation of the collection. Among them is Otto van Veen’s large altarpiece Christ and the Repentant Sinners or Jacob Jordaens’s monumental Finding in the Temple. In addition to these large-scale history paintings, the Mainz collection is particularly characterized by numerous cabinet pieces that were donated by citizens of Mainz in the nineteenth century. Among the cabinet pieces are works by famous artists like Pieter de Bloot, Dirck Hals, Thomas Heeremans and Thomas Wyck.
Karoline Feulner, Curator (May 2020)