Masterpiece or Copy? Multimedia in the museum

Masterpiece or copy?
5 December 2009 – 14 February 2010

From 5 December Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is presenting the results of extensive research into two seemingly identical versions of ‘St Jerome with an Angel’ by Anthony van Dyck. The exhibition employs innovative multi-media techniques and projected animations in order to answer the controversial question: which painting is the original?

The two paintings by Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) are presented side by side in the exhibition. Projections on the canvases clarify the differences and similarities between the two versions. The 8-minute presentation provides the visitor with a summary of the research and explains the advanced techniques involved, including X-ray photographs, infrared photographs and chemical analysis of paint samples. Which of the two works was painted first? And was the second version actually painted by Van Dyck himself or by someone else?

One of the paintings is on loan to the museum from the Stichting Willem van der Vorm and the other belongs to the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. The two paintings have been subjected to intensive research over the last two years by curators and conservators from both museums. The exhibition is accompanied by the fourth publication in the ‘Boijmans Studies’ series: ‘Masterpiece or copy? Two versions of Anthony van Dyck’s St Jerome with an Angel’ which provides a detailed record of the research. (€16.50 ISBN 978-90-6918-242-1)
The exhibition will be shown at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm from 28 February 2010 and at Museum M in Leuven from 10 June 2010. The exhibition has been made possible by Stichting Willem van der Vorm.

Back