A catalogue of the collection of Western tapestries of the Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH) of Brussels has been published. The critical catalogue is published by tapestry experts Guy Delmarcel, Ingrid De Meûter and Werner Adriaenssens.
The RMAH collection comprises 163 tapestries from the end of the fourteenth century until 1980 and is considered to be one of the most important in Europe. The majority of the tapestries were woven in the Southern Netherlands as well as in France, Germany, Holland, Italy and England. The collection includes tapestries designed by Bernard van Orley, Michiel Coxcie, Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Charles Le Brun and Lodewijk van Schoor. Modern designs are represented by Constant Montald, Paul Haesaerts, Willem Geets, Rodolphe Strebelle and Floris Jespers.
About the authors
Guy Delmarcel is emeritus professor in art history at the KU Leuven and an honorary member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. From 1972 to 1990 he was curator of the West European tapestries at the RMAH.
Ingrid De Meûter is a specialist in tapestry production in the Southern Netherlands. In 1999 she organized an award-winning overview exhibition in Oudenaarde and from 2000 to 2022 was responsible for the textile and tapestry collection at the RMAH. De Meûter was a member of CODART from 2010 through 2021. See her Curator in the Spotlight (2013) for more about her career and some highlights from the Brussels collection.
Werner Adriaenssens is doctor in Archaeology and the Arts and since 1998 has worked at the RMAH where he is the curator of the 20th century collections. He has been a professor at the Free University of Brussels since 2009.
The Cinquantenaire Tapestries. The Collections of the Royal Museums of Art and History (2023)
Guy Delmarcel, Ingrid De Meûter, Werner Adriaenssens
Hardcover, 432 pp.
ISBN 9789461617729
Ghent () May 2023