Bruges, Hugo van der Goes and the Flemish primitives brought together in a major exhibition around a masterpiece

From Oct. 28, 2022 to Feb. 5, 2023, the former Hospital of St. John in Bruges, now the Memling Museum, will host the exhibition Face to Face with Death, dedicated to the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes (Ghent, c. 1440 - Auderghem, 1482), who along with Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling was one of the greatest Flemish primitives.

The centerpiece of the exhibition will be his masterpiece, The Death of the Virgin (c. 1470), on public display again for the first time after lengthy restoration. Between 2018 and 2022 the work was restored under the guidance of Griet Steyaert and with the collaboration of Marie Postec. Now the faces of the apostles, the architecture, and the color palette that make up the painting can be fully appreciated. Before the masterpiece is returned to the Groeningemuseum, it deserves a central role in a dedicated exhibition. Much research has been conducted in recent years to investigate the artistic style and iconography of Hugo van der Goes’ work and other works that can be linked to the Death of the Virgin. Now it is intended to share this updated knowledge with the wider public in an innovative way.

The exhibition is divided into six themes, six different points of view, and juxtaposes the work with other masterpieces by Hans Memling, Jan Provoost, and Albrecht Bouts, as well as sculptures, manuscripts, and pieces of music, for a total of seventy works.

In addition, five “new masters” including artist Berlinde De Bruyckere have been invited to introduce through video messages each a different aspect of the exhibition, offering a new perspective on the work. Indeed, The Death of the Virgin will be analyzed and interpreted by five contemporary personalities(Berlinde De Bruyckere, Ivo van Hove, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Sholeh Rezazadeh): writers, artists, and filmmakers who explore the masterpiece with an approach related to their own discipline. In this way, the new masters will create a contemporary dialogue with both the work and the visitors.

The exhibition is curated by Sibylla Goegebuer and can be visited Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For info and tickets: museabrugge.be

Credit Musea Brugge

Bruges, Hugo van der Goes and the Flemish primitives brought together in a major exhibition around a masterpiece

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