Bicentenary at Tournai: Collection of the Great Seminary (1808-2008)

As places of learning, intended for the formation of clergy, Great Seminaries were also known for their cultural heritage. That is, if history had not been too unkind. And in the case of Tournai, it hasn’t.

On 10 November 2008 the Great Seminary is celebrating its 200^th year in the same premises since 1808. It was founded thanks to an obstinate bishop, François-Joseph Hirn, originally from Alsace, and with a little help of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The premises had then seen at least 3 previous owners, and 2 centuries of construction and restauration. At the end of the 16^th century, the Jesuits organised a college and a noviciate in them. When the order was abolished in 1773, the buildings remained empty. A few years later, the canons regular were the new owners, until they had to vacate in 1794 and give way to an administrative office under the French republic.

The Great Seminary today can take pride in a library of more than 100,000 volumes, comprising medieval manuscripts and archival documents, incunables, etchings, and many precious bindings. And one of its abbots in the 20^th century took care to establish a small museum for several artefacts, including oil panels.

The collections mostly have religious provenances. A few go back to the Jesuits and the canons regulars, but most were the scattered holdings of other abolished religious institutions in and around Tournai. For these artefacts, the foundation of the Great Seminary, not long after the abolishment of religious orders in general, proved fortuitous.

The bicentenary has occasioned a new and richly illustrated monograph about the building, the garden, and its collections, which have also been catalogued with text and image. The project has benefited from a close collaboration with the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage at Brussels (IRPA-KIK).

The notes on manuscript, etchings, bindings and rare book holdings have been authored by P. Bogaert osb, Annie De Coster, J.-B. Lebigue, J. Leclercq-Marx, E. Livens, L.Reynhout, F. Tixier, Dominique Vanwijnsberghe, Renaud Adam, Ph. Desmette, and A. Delvingt.

Details: Séminaire de Tournai, Rue des Jésuites 28, 7500 Tournai (Doornik). Press release to be obtained by Monique Maillard-Luypaert, curator of the Great Seminary Library. On 15 and 16 November 2008, Mrs Maillard will be present at a cultural event called Tournai La Page (Halle aux draps, Tournai).

Book: Monique Maillard-Luypaert, et al., Séminaire de Tournai. Histoire – Bâtiments – Collections. Leuven, Peeters Publishers, 2008 (forthcoming). 360 p. 251 illustrations. ISBN 978-904292169-6. Price: 75 €.

Photo credit: M.Maillard-Luypaert

Stradanus exhibition: a son of Bruges hailed back in his birth town

If having Honorary Tuscans were a practice in Florence in the early 17th century, Johannes Stradanus (Brugge, 1523- Florence 1605) would have been a serious candidate. He was born here, but died as a Florentine.

Today the draughtsman is celebrated in birth town Brugge (Bruges) with an exhibition: "Johannes Stradanus, hofkunstenaar van de Medici" (Court Artist of the Medici).

Stradanus received training as an artist at Antwerp, and he was found registered there as a member of its famous St Luke's Guild in 1545. Around that time he travelled to Italy to confront his own draughtsman skill with Italian art.

His encounter with a fellow countryman who had been put in charge of the de Medici tapestry production, which aimed at taking the wind out of the sails of Flemish tapestry making, proved decisive. A full career ensued: Stradanus became a commissioned designer for media as varied as tapestries, paintings, single pieces, altar pieces or murals -Francesco de Medici's Studiolo in Palazzo Vecchio for instance, prints, and of course the drawings.

But drawing for prints took center stage in Stradanus' output as of 1576, which explains why the core of the exhibition consists of 122 prints and drawings, placed together in a complementary way. There are borrowings from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Royal Library at Brussels and Windsor Castle. The richness of detail warrants that the spectator gives this enough viewing time.

Perhaps most famous, and documenting craftsmanship in the arts and science in the Late Renaissance, is the series "Nova Reperta" from 1588-1589, consisting of 19 prints. To depict themes such as the invention of oil paint, and the determination of longitude at sea, Stradanus consulted a fair amount of reading material, the literature of his day. But while glorifying discovery, it was not beneath him to color historical fact with his own glasses.

The exhibition also has sculpture, for instance by fellow émigré Giambologna, paintings by Italian artists such as Vasari, who counted on Stradanus as a close collaborator, and three Italian tapestries.

Details: Johannes Stradanus, hofkunstenaar van de Medici, exhibition, Groeningemuseum, Dijver 12, 8000 Brugge. From 9 October 2008 until 4 January 2009. The Groeningemuseum is part of the 1 Euro Museum initiative. Youngsters under the age of 26 pay an entrance fee of 1 Euro.

Photo credit: courtesy of Groeningemuseum. The Hunt for Wild Cats, borrowing from Palazzo Pitti, Florence, after a carton by Stradanus.

Catalogues:
Exhibition manual: Sandra Janssens, Stradanus 1523-1605. Hofkunstenaar van de Medici. No ISBN. Depot D/2008/0546/1. 63 p. Text, color illustrations. Price: 6 Euro.
Scientific study: Stradanus (1523-1605), Court Artist of de Medici. Contributors: Alessandra Baroni Vennucci, Alessandro Cecchi, Albert Elen, Sandra Janssens, Marjolein Leesberg, Lucia Meoni, Manfred Sellink, Gert Jan van der Sman. Brepols, 2008. ISBN 2-503-52996-7. Price: 60 Euro.

Two new exhibitions at Antwerp and Brussels (9 October 2008)

On Thursday 9 October 2008, book lovers in Belgium have what in French is called an embarras du choix: two exhibitions will then be inaugurated, one at Antwerp, the other at Brussels.

The Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience (formerly Stadsbibliotheek or SBA) at Antwerp plays host to an exhibition that was produced in France by the Médiathèque de Strasbourg: Meesters van licht en schaduw. Boekillustraties uit de vijftiende eeuw (Masters of light and shadow. Book illustrations from the 15th century).

Forty-five incunables are shown, illustrating the techniques available to printers in the 15th century.

Three contemporary artists, Pierre Gaucher, Charles Kalt, and Caroline Schwoebel, were asked to produce works in juxtapostition to these book illustrations.

A special event is taking place on 18 October 2008 at 4 pm: a concert of classical music with texts inspired by the poems of Hadewych, and music from the Rhineland from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Details:
Nottebohmzaal, Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience
H.Conscienceplein 4, Antwerpen
From 10 October 2008 until 9 November 2008.
The Bibliotheca Wittockiana has a new reason to celebrate: this museum of private origin, dedicated to the binding, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an exhibition "A Life, A Collection. 25 Years of Shared Passion".

The passion in question is that of founder Michel Wittock, who started off as a private collector to create a museum later. Although Wittock has handed the helm of the institution to his son Charly a few years ago, he personally selected 250 bindings from a total of about 5,000 holdings.

The selection is set to illustrate some chapters of Wittock's collecting. An evolution of style periods will show what kept the founder in thrall over the past 25 years.

On Thursday 9 October 2008, H.R.H. Princess Mathilde will inaugurate the exhibition.

Details:
Bibliotheca Wittockiana
Rue du Bemel/Bemelstraat 23, 1150 Brussels
From 10 October until 28 February 2009.