Daughters of Minerva

15/10/2026 - 07/03/2027

With Daughters of Minerva, Museum DOMUS turns its attention to women who lived for centuries in the shadow of power, yet still helped shape the political, cultural and everyday life of Alden Biesen. Minerva, goddess of wisdom and strategy, provides the exhibition’s guiding thread. Her image and symbolism open up stories about influence, knowledge and authority that have long been told mainly from a male perspective.

Painted wooden figure of a man carrying vegetables and herbs, dressed in eighteenth-century clothing and shown at life size. — *A Man Harvesting Vegetables and Herbs*, 18th century

Painted wooden figure of a woman with a basket of vegetables, dressed in eighteenth-century clothing and shown at life size. — *A Woman with a Basket of Vegetables*, 18th century

Two unusual dummy boards from The Phoebus Foundation collection are included in the exhibition: a woman carrying a basket of vegetables and a man harvesting vegetables and herbs. These life-size painted wooden figures were used mainly in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century interiors as decorative and illusionistic objects. Their almost lifelike presence fits neatly within an exhibition that also draws attention to people who stood outside the centre of power, but were nonetheless part of everyday life.

The exhibition Daughters of Minerva runs from 15 October 2026 to 7 March 2027 at Museum DOMUS, Landcommanderij Alden Biesen in Bilzen-Hoeselt. More information via alden-biesen.be.