Jan van Eyck in Bruges

This exhibition is devoted to two masterpieces by the Burgundian court painter from Bruges: 'Madonna with Canon Joris Van der Paele' and 'Portrait of his wife Margaretha van Eyck'.

The exhibition will familiarise you with Jan van Eyck’s Bruges period and uses authentic documents to demonstrate what kind of lifestyle the artist led in Bruges and where he lived. Technical research shows how the painter went about planning his paintings and how he occasionally made radical changes during the creative process.

The exhibition also focuses on Joris van der Paele – the son of a priest and a noblewoman – who had an impressive career at the Roman Curia during an extremely turbulent period. He bore witness to the power-games which were played out between the pope and the antipope and was involved with negotiations concerning the Hundred Years’ War and the councils. Books and letters which he wrote as notary/secretary to the pope have been lent out from the Secret Archives of the Vatican for the first time ever.

Groeningemuseum, Bruges