Phoebus Findings is a series where science and public communication meet. New research is highlighted in this series of clear, concise online publications. Dive in at the deep end and go on a journey of discovery with our researchers and restorers.
Recently, an extraordinary, anonymous eighteenth-century botanical manuscript was meticulously restored at The Phoebus Foundation’s paper conservation studio. The handwritten compendium consists of two alphabetically arranged parts. The first is preceded by a hand-coloured titl ...
Read moreAt first glance, The Volador Dance, a striking eighteenth-century Latin American painting, probably from Mexico or what was then known as the Viceroyalty of New Spain, captivates with its rich detail and vibrant composition. Yet, the viewer is immediately drawn to the pronounced ...
Read moreSometimes, a restoration reveals far more than expected. During the treatment of Merrymakers at a Market in Prati by Jan Miel (1599-1664), his signature and a handwritten inscription unexpectedly came to light. For a long time, it was assumed that the impressive painting was unsi ...
Read moreThe Antwerp Jesuit Church, today’s Saint Charles Borromeo’s Church, was likely one of the most impressive Baroque buildings in Europe following its construction in 1615. Beyond its richly decorated façade, the interior was particularly renowned for its grandeur.
Read moreThe depiction of Our Lady of the Candelaria is based on the story of the apparition of Mary to two shepherds on the island of Tenerife in 1392. They found a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary bearing a candle in her left hand and the Christ Child with two doves in the other.
Read moreShortly after his return from Italy, the Antwerp master Cornelis Schut painted the Abduction of Europa, an impressive scene based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses (II: 868-875). Europa anxiously fixes her gaze on the shore as she is carried off into the sea by the supreme god Jupiter.
Read moreA child dressed in white with a wreath of twigs around his head lies, eyes closed, on rolled up fabric on a red surface. A black blanket completes his cot and contrasts sharply with the white sheet folded neatly over it. The background, too, is dark.
Read moreBaroque portrait virtuoso Anthony Van Dyck painted the compelling portrait of Henricus Liberti (c.1610-1669) between 1627 and 1632.1 The blond-haired young man is gazing into the distance, lips slightly parted. He adopts a nonchalant posture, his shirt collar unbuttoned.
Read moreThe Brussels painter Adam Frans Van der Meulen (1632-1690) created quite a furore at the court of the French King Louis XIV (1638-1715). He immortalised his military triumphs, embellished with the necessary pomp and bravado, as he did the royal couple’s entry in Douai, Northern ...
Read moreIn the seventeenth century, the Antwerp-born painter Peter Snayers (1592-1667), known for his panoramic battle scenes, was 'extremement bien renommez'. In Het Gulden Cabinet vande edel vry schilder const (1661) artist-biographer Cornelis De Bie devoted a six-page laudatory poem ...
Read moreIn 1618, approximately a year after he had enrolled as a master painter in the Guild of St Luke, the Flemish Baroque master Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) and his wife bought two adjoining houses located to the rear of the houses in Hoogstraat, Antwerp.
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