Flemish Painting: From van Eyck to Rubens

BELGIUM

April 13–18, 2021 from £1685 per person | with Rupert Dickens

Raising of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens

• Discover the works and worlds of the Flemish masters across Belgium with visits to important collections in

Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels • See Hubert and Jan van Eyck’s iconic

‘Ghent Altarpiece’ –The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb – in full, its panels reunited at the Cathedral of St Bavo • Enjoy a new day excursion to

Mechelen, to visit the Museum Hof van Busleyden, a splendid Renaissance palace, and to see Rubens’s famous altarpiece at the Church of St John

Few countries have made such a profound contribution to European art as the land we know today as Belgium. With the development of oil painting in the 15th century onwards, Belgium played an essential role in the evolution of western painting. Te ‘golden age’ of Flemish art began with the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck, before being continued by Hans Memling in Bruges, Rogier van der Weyden in Brussels, and Hugo van der Goes in Ghent. Flemish Mannerist architects spread Renaissance ideas throughout northern Europe, and in van Dyck and Rubens we have two of the most formidable of all Baroque artists. Te frst stop on our tour will be Bruges, where we will enjoy a visit to the Gruuthusemuseum, a luxurious city palace reopened in 2019 following a major refurbishment, and housing a multitude of artistic treasures celebrating the glories of the Burgundian age. Meanwhile, the Groeningemuseum is host to an enviable collection of van Eyck and van der Weyden, and is the setting for Hieronymous Bosch’s Last Judgment.

32 This tour will be led by Rupert Dickens, MA, an art historian specialising in Dutch and Flemish art. Rupert studied art history at Birkbeck, University of London, before gaining a Masters degree in Dutch Golden Age Studies at UCL. Previously a BBC television and radio journalist for more than 20 years, Rupert is now an Arts Society lecturer and a guide lecturer at the Wallace Collection. He has been visiting and working in the Netherlands and Belgium since the 1980s.

We will also visit the Memling Museum, housed in one of Europe’s oldest medieval hospitals, and pay homage to Michelangelo’s marble Madonna and Child in the Gothic Church of Our Lady.

A particular highlight of our 2021 tour will be the opportunity to view the entirety of the van Eyck brothers’ magnifcent Ghent Altarpiece, Te Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, in a new dedicated visitors’ centre at St Bavo’s Cathedral. Te panels, some of which have recently been refurbished, will be reunited and on display together at the cathedral for the frst time in many years.

We also look forward to a new excursion for 2021, to the city of Mechelen, once the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands and an important political and cultural hub for the Burgundian and early Habsburg princes. A visit to the Museum Hof van Busleyden, a wonderful Renaissance palace, will shed further light upon this period of history. St John’s Church, a stone’s throw from the palace, contains a magnifcent altarpiece by Rubens, its central panel depicting the Adoration of the Magi. In Antwerp, the great commercial port on the Scheldt, we will feel Rubens’s presence in his palatial house and studio, and explore the Mayer van den Bergh Museum, home to a collection of northern Renaissance art assembled during the 19th century. Our tour concludes with a visit to the Musée d’Art Ancien in Brussels, home to Flemish and Belgian paintings dating from the 15th to the 18th century.

We will stay throughout in the centre of Ghent at the four-star NH Gent Belfort, opposite the town hall.

FITNESS / PRACTICALITIES: This tour involves a moderate amount of walking, including over cobbled streets which may be busy with bicycles, and participants must be prepared for navigating steps and spending periods of time standing in galleries. There is no lift at the Gruuthusemuseum, and parts of the collection can only be accessed via narrow, steep and winding staircases.

Please note that the itinerary represents a guide to what we hope to offer, and some elements may be subject to change or confrmation nearer the time. We cannot guarantee the availability of all artworks mentioned.

Day 1 Depart London St Pancras 1058 on Eurostar, arriving Brussels 1405. Continue to Ghent for fve nights at NH Gent Belfort. Evening lecture: Art in Bruges from Jan van Eyck to Hans Memling.

Day 2 Whole day excursion to Bruges: Gruuthusemuseum (recently refurbished), Groeningemuseum (works by van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch and Memling), Church of Our Lady and Hospital of St John (Memling Museum). Day 3 Visits in Ghent: Cathedral of St Bavo (The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb altarpiece) and Museum of Fine Arts. Evening lecture: Peter Paul Rubens and his Antwerp Studio.

Day 4 Whole day excursion to Antwerp: Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady (Rubens altarpieces), Mayer van den Bergh’s Museum (Flemish primitives, major collection of late Gothic sculpture) and Rubens’s House. Free evening. Day 5 Excursion to Mechelen: Museum Hof van Busleyden (Renaissance palace), St John’s Church (Rubens altarpiece) and some free time. Day 6 Morning lecture: Pieter Bruegel the Elder – Peasant or Scholar? followed by transfer to Brussels for Musée des Beaux Arts (15th-18th century Belgian painting). Depart Brussels 1656, arriving St Pancras 1803.

Cost of £1685 includes: return travel, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, breakfast, four dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities. Not included: travel insurance, double room for single use supplement £295. TOUR CODE: FLMP21