Information
The art collection of Leuven has its origins in an eighteenth-century cabinet of curiosities in the city’s town hall. Over the next two centuries it expanded from a collection with historical overtones into a full-fledged overview of the art production in Leuven and Brabant from the Middle Ages onward, which is now shown in M – Museum Leuven.
Of special significance in the extensive and diverse collection are the art treasures in the St. Peter’s Church, including two triptychs by the Flemish Primitive Dieric Bouts (The Last Supper and The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus), the Edelheere-triptych and the Triumphal Cross Ensemble by Jan Borman the Younger. Additionally M holds an important collection of medieval sculpture and fifteenth and sixteenth-century painting with works of art by Rogier van der Weyden, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Michiel Coxcie, Joos van Cleve, and Jan Rombouts.
The collection also contains (mostly Leuven) religious and civic silver from the fifteenth-century onward. There is also an important collection of stained-glass medallions, historical textiles including fifteenth-century antependia, copes as well as sixteenth-century Brussels tapestries and an extensive collection of prints. The M collection continues to grow through purchases, donations and loans.
Marjan Debaene, Head of Collections (December 2021)
Collection catalogues
M collecties beeldhouwkunst
Peter Carpreau, Marjan Debaene, Ko Goubert, and Eline Sciot
Leuven 2014
M. Leuven: collectie schilderijen
Lorne Campbell, Peter Carpreau
Tielt 2009
M. Leuven: het museum en de collectie
Patrick De Rynck, Peter Carpreau, Veronique Vandekerchove
Tielt 2009