On Sunday, 14 and Monday, 15 September, we will travel to Leeuwarden and its surroundings for a CODARTfocus meeting about the exhibition Wybrand de Geest. Masterly Portraits at the Fries Museum. This monographic exhibition dives deeper into the life and work of Friesland’s most important seventeenth-century portrait painter.

On Sunday we have planned a special excursion to Dekema State. This late fifteenth-century estate is a highlight of Frisian noble culture, where historic family portraits that date back to 1587 are on view. This visit creates a perfect opportunity to get an impression of how Frisian noble families, De Geest’s main patrons, lived.

The Dekema State in the village of Jelsum
^{Photo: © Dekema State}

On Monday morning, participants are offered a private viewing of the exhibition after an introduction by its curator Marlies Stoter (Fries Museum, Leeuwarden). After lunch, we will explore the oeuvre of De Geest in-depth with lectures by Marieke de Winkel (Ottema-Kingma Foundation Professor for the History of Textiles and Dress, Radboud University Nijmegen), Piet Bakker (Independent Art Historian and Researcher) and Volker Manuth (Professor Emeritus Art History of the Early Modern Period, Radboud University, Nijmegen) about the attire and finery of those portrayed by Wybrand de Geest, attribution issues surrounding Frisian painting,  and De Geest’s Mary Magdalene in Ecstacy after Caravaggio, respectively.

View the full program for more details. For more practical information and to register for this CODARTfocus, please go to the participate page. If you have any questions about this event, please contact us at events@codart.nl.