Phoebus Focus XXI

Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens… Antwerp is famous because of her many talented artists. But what about Brussels?

In this edition of Phoebus Focus, researcher Lara Yeager-Crasselt takes you to the roaring Brussels art scene with a focus on the extraordinary portraiture, with Michael Sweerts as pioneer.

Lara Yeager-Crasselt (1983) is a scholar of the art of the early modern Netherlands, and Curator of The Leiden Collection, a private collection of Dutch and Flemish art based in New...

In this edition of 'Phoebus Focus', no less than three specialists examine two of the sketches that Baroque master Abraham Van Diepenbeeck made for the stained-glass windows of the Antwerp St. Paul's Church. The stained-glass windows themselves have not survived the ravages of time and so these sketches are invaluable for the reconstruction of the church's original interior.

In praise of folly: on the fool and the jester in Flemish art

According to medieval theologians, faith is a deadly serious business. Humour and virtue are irreconcilable, because laughter is uncontrollable and escapes the control of reason. A modest smile is permitted. But laughing loudly, grinning and grimacing: these are the playing field of the devil – just as pernicious as other uncontrollable urges, such as physical love or the addiction of the gambler. That is the domain of the peasan...