Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
The Scientia Artis series
Scientia Artis is a series published by KIK-IRPA. The works in this series - monographs, exhibition catalogues and conference proceedings - present the results of research projects and scientific events (co)organized by KIK-IRPA.
The Brueg(H)el Phenomenon. Paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Pieter Brueghel the Younger with a Special Focus on Technique and Copying Practices
Authors: Christina Currie & Dominique Allart
Scientia Artis 8. Expected for the beginning of 2012.
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels, 2012, ca. 900 p., 3 vol. & website
Language: English
ISBN: 978-2-930054-14-8
Click here for the table of contents
This volume is the culmination of a long-term research program carried out by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in partnership with the University of Liège; it has benefited from the generous collaboration of 19 Belgian and foreign museums and numerous private collections.
The fascination for the works of Pieter Bruegel in the decades following his death in 1569 is only matched by the public interest they stimulate today. At the end of the sixteenth century and in the first half of the seventeenth century, the most ambitious art collectors fought over the rare paintings by the master that were still on the market. This context was the catalyst for the appearance of copies and pastiches; genuine forgeries were also produced.
It was then that the elder son of Pieter Bruegel, known as Brueghel the Younger (whose name is spelt ‘Brueghel', conforming to the signature that he adopted during the initial phase of his career) emerged as a legitimate successor, using working material inherited from his father. He produced astonishingly faithful replicas, all the more surprising given that they were often reproductions of paintings that were by then scattered in diverse and often inaccessible private collections. Working together with his studio, in which there was a streamlined organisation of work following a well-established practice in Antwerp during the period, Brueghel supplied the market with hundreds of copies of variable quality according to the client. This fascinating phenomenon merited an in-depth study and re-evaluation, taking into account the historical and economic context.
The examinations undertaken within the framework of a wide-reaching program of study comprise a representative sample of paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. In relation to the latter, crucial discoveries were made, leading to a reconsideration of his art as well as the evolution of painting practice in the Southern Netherlands in the sixteenth century. The study therefore also provides an in-depth account of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's working techniques. Aside from the examination of a series of works by the latter artist, and in the light of observations made on them, the controversial Fall of Icarus from the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium is re-considered.
As to the works produced by Pieter Brueghel the Younger's studio, new scientific imagery and analysis enabled an intimate comparison of their techniques of execution. This revealed common technological traits that distinguish works produced under the master's direct control from those produced outside his workshop. Practical reconstructions of procedures used in his studio bring these techniques to life and make them more easily understandable. Subtle stylistic characteristics were also detected amongst the paintings examined, making it possible to identify in a significant number of cases the individual hand of Brueghel the Younger as opposed to that of one or other of his assistants.
More than a thousand images illustrate this volume, on the text and the accompanying DVD. In this way, visual material relative to the over 70 works studied is available to art historians and the wider scientific community: detailed examinations of the surface, infrared reflectography, X-radiography, dendrochronological data, chemical analyses (notably Raman spectography, GC-MS and SEM-EDX).
Tree Rings, Art, Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference
Edited by Pascale Fraiture
Scientia Artis 7
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), Brussels, 2011, 376 p.
Language: English
ISBN: 978-2-930054-13-1
Price: 40 €*
In 2010 IRPA-KIK organised the Tree Rings, Art, Archaeology conference. The various articles gathered in the proceedings reflect the practices of fifteen European countries. The first objective of the conference was to review the notable advances over the last ten years. The second aim, focused more on the future, was to bring together dendrochronologists and other players in the field - historians, archaeologists and art historians - to discuss the ‘Good use of dendrochronology'. The articles successively explore the different facets of the dendrochronological prism.
Indeed, dendrochronology is a discipline at the crossroads of human, exact and natural sciences. This explains the disparity in the training of dendrochronologists. Botanists, statisticians and archaeologists each provide their version of dendrochronology, while respecting the fundamental principles of the method. From this follows a multiplicity of applications under a single label. Dating is not considered as an end in itself, but as a single indication - among others, whether archaeological, historical or artistic -, which the dendrochronologist complements with other information obtained from his measurements, e.g. the origin of the wood, growth type, environment, etc. However, the dendrochronologist alone cannot explain the entirety of a research question. The need to compare different approaches is self-imposed and serves to enrich or even to question an approach that remains necessarily empirical, and whose conclusions are irremediably tentative.
Imitation and Illusion
Applied Brocade in the Art of the Low Countries in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
Authors: Ingrid Geelen & Delphine Steyaert
Scientia Artis 6
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels, 2011, 660 p.
Language: English
ISBN: 978-2-930054-11-7
Price: 90 €*
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In the late Middle Ages luxurious textiles were among the most highly prized indicators of status and wealth and an essential requirement of prestigious secular and ecclesiastical life. The depiction of these sumptuous silks and gold brocades was a crucial element in the visual arts, and their realistic and recognizable representation was a challenge to every artist. Painters and polychromers strove to imitate the fashionable fabrics by using applied brocade, a highly sophisticated form of relief decoration that adhered to panel paintings, murals and sculpture and through the play of light and shadow evoked the dazzling illusion of gold-brocaded cloths.
Imitation and Illusion is the result of a detailed study of applied brocade in the art of the Low Countries. Eleven fascinating and innovative chapters offer an in-depth examination of the historical, geographical, morphological and technical aspects of this cast tin relief technique. New light is also shed on artistic collaboration and workshop practice in the fifteenth and early sixteenth century. The catalogue includes 86 well known and lesser known panel and wall paintings, sculptures, altarpieces, and architectural elements produced between 1420 and 1540, decorated with applied brocade and providing stunning testimony to the visual variety and material magnificence of late-medieval art.
Abundantly illustrated, Imitation and Illusion investigates the artistic production of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Low Countries from an intriguing and original perspective. It represents a significant contribution to our understanding of medieval polychromy and will appeal to everyone whose curiosity is aroused by the illusionistic ingenuity of the medieval artist.
D'Ennion au Val Saint-Lambert. Le verre soufflé-moulé. Actes des 23e Rencontres de l'Association française pour l'Archéologie du Verre
Directeur de publication: Chantal Fontaine, avec la collaboration de C. Bourguignon et S. Laevers
Scientia Artis 5. Actes de colloque
Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, Bruxelles, 2010, 480 p.
Articles majoritairement en français. Quelques articles en anglais et en allemand.
Voir la table des matières.
ISBN: 978-2-930054-10-0
Prix: 60 €*
Commander
D'Ennion, verrier syro-palestinien du Ier siècle de notre ère, au Val Saint-Lambert, grand atelier verrier de l'Europe moderne, la technique du verre soufflé-moulé traverse quelque vingt siècles de création. Premier colloque international sur ce thème, les 23e Rencontres de l'Association française pour l'Archéologie du Verre organisées en octobre 2008 (AFAV) se prolongent dans ce volume d'Actes richement illustré, accueilli dans la série Scientia Artis de l'IRPA. Suivant un canevas chronologique, une quarantaine de contributions originales y rendent compte de l'actualité de la recherche sur l'histoire du soufflage du verre dans un moule. Résolument pluridisciplinaire, l'ouvrage associe les regards de spécialistes de différents domaines et périodes - archéologie, histoire, chimie et technique, conservation-restauration. Une large place est réservée à des découvertes inédites ou méconnues. Avec son abondante illustration, l'ensemble propose un véritable florilège des productions en verre soufflé-moulé de l'Antiquité à nos jours, et établit de précieux jalons scientifiques pour les recherches futures.
Autour de la Madeleine Renders. Un aspect de l'histoire des collections, de la restauration et de la contrefaçon en Belgique dans la première moitié du vingtième siècle
Directeur de publication : D. Vanwijnsberghe, avec la collaboration de C. Bourguignon et de J. DeberghAuteurs : P. Fraiture, S. Laemers, J. Lust, D. Martens, L. Mortiaux, P. Philippot, J.-L. Pypaert, J. Sanyova, St. Saverwyns, D. Vanwijnsberghe.
Scientia Artis 4Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, Bruxelles, 2008, 307 p., 463 ill.
En français uniquement.Voir la table des matières
ISBN : 978-2-930054-09-4Prix: 55 €*Commander
Dernier-né de la collection Scientia Artis, ce volume est paru en septembre 2008. Suite à la redécouverte de la Madeleine Renders, il étudie, sous un angle interdisciplinaire, le destin de la collection Renders et l'œuvre du restaurateur Joseph Van der Veken. Il propose en outre un premier catalogue raisonné des œuvres de ce dernier.
Lire la recension publiée par Jacques Foucart dans La Tribune de l'Art le 25 février 2011.
Lambert Lombard, peintre de la Renaissance (Liège 1505/06-1566). Essais interdisciplinaires et catalogue de l'exposition
Directeur de publication: G. Denhaenes
Scientia Artis 3 Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, Bruxelles, 2006.25 auteurs, 39 articles introductifs, 154 notices, 534 p., 482 illustrations.Existe aussi en néerlandais. Voir la table des matièresISBN : 978-2-930054-06-3Prix : 40 €*. La version française est épuisée. Commander
À l'occasion du cinq centième anniversaire de la naissance de Lambert Lombard, peintre liégeois de la Renaissance, une exposition, parrainée par l'UNESCO, lui fut, entièrement consacrée. Parmi les œuvres exposées figuraient les huit toiles peintes pour l'abbaye cistercienne de Herkenrode, la série des Femmes vertueuses, réunies pour la première fois depuis la fin du dix-huitième siècle.
L'ouvrage rend notamment compte du travail de sauvegarde et de restauration, réalisé à l'IRPA, qui a précédé l'exposition de ces huit toiles. Dans ses pages figure également le catalogue de l'exposition. Un ouvrage incontournable pour les amateurs férus de peinture de la Renaissance!
Les vitraux de la cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule de Bruxelles. Histoire, conservation, restauration = De glasramen van de Sint-Michiels-en Sint-Goedelekathedraal. Geschiedenis, conservatie en restauratie
Directeur de publication: I. Lecocq
Auteurs : W. Berckmans, H. Claes, D. de Crombrugghe, P. de Henau, A. Royers, Y. Vanden Bemden, C. Van den Wijngaert, H. Wouters
Scientia Artis 2Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, Bruxelles, 2005, 294 p.Ouvrage bilingue néerlandais-français. Voir la table des matières
ISBN : 978-2-930054-05-6Prix : 30 €*Commander
Ce deuxième volume de la collection Scientia Artis nous invite à pénétrer dans le monde des vitraux de la cathédrale de Bruxelles, l'un des plus beaux ensembles encore conservés en Belgique. Il explore avec minutie les détails des travaux de restauration dont ont fait l'objet les vitraux de la cathédrale, tant ceux du XVIe que ceux du XIXe siècle, au points de vue historique au technique, en livrant les détails des analyses effectuées sur échantillons de vitreries du XIIIe siècle. Un outil que ne peuvent ignorer les spécialistes des vitraux, ni d'ailleurs tout qui s'intéresse à la cathédrale bruxelloise ou au patrimoine verrier.
Le retable d'Oplinter = Het retabel van Oplinter
Auteurs : R. De Boodt, M. Serck-Dewaide, J. Sanyova, N. Goetghebeur, L. Kockaert, J. Jansen Scientia Artis 1 Bruxelles, 1999, 216 p., 34 planches couleur, 66 illustrations noir et blanc.
Ouvrage bilingue néerlandais-français.
Voir la table des matières
ISBN : 978-2-930054-02-5
Prix : 22,35 €*Commander
Aujourd'hui conservé au Musée du Cinquantenaire, le Retable de la Passion auquel est consacré ce premier volume de la collection Scientia Artis provient de l'église Sainte-Geneviève d'Oplinter. Très représentatif de la production des retables anversois de la première moitié du XVIe siècle, il a été un point de départ de leur étude approfondie. Une étude qui jette un éclairage nouveau sur la technique de fabrication des retables de la fin du Moyen Âge. Richement illustré, le volume intéressera au premier chef les spécialistes et les amateurs éclairés.
* Frais de port non inclus.