The Portuguese in Bruges and Antwerp in the 15th and 16th Centuries

The Flemish Research Centre for the Arts in the Burgundian Netherlands, established in 2010 by the Groeninge Museum of Bruges and the Flemish Art Collection, seeks to promote research into the art of the 15th and 16th Centuries in the Burgundian Netherlands and to stimulate an international awareness of it. The Centre will begin a series of Lectures of the Flemish Research Centre for the Arts in the Burgundian Netherlands, beginning this autumn. Three experts associated with French universities will discuss their recent research on specific aspects of the Burgundian art.

Jacques Paviot (Professor of Medieval History, Université Paris-Est Créteil) is the first speaker on the Portuguese in Bruges and Antwerp in the 15th and 16th Centuries. Although in sheer numbers, they were not great, but the Portuguese play a role that is not to be underestimated in Bruges and then later in Antwerp: the merchant traders, the representatives of the Portuguese king and the courtiers. These three groups are present in the 15th Century in Bruges and the first two in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th Centuries. All of them order or purchase works of art or art objects. In this lecture, various figures will be considered: Duchess Isabella van Portugal (1397-1471) and her acquaintances, the members of the Portuguese merchant representatives, amongst which is the Humanist Damião de Góis (1502-1574), and the more difficult to trace group of the merchant traders, from which only a few names survived (such as Martin Lem) via the preserved works of art.

Practical:

When: 15 November, 15:00
Where: Vriendenzaal Musea Brugge, Dijver 12, 8000 Bruges
Price: No charge
Attention: The language of this lecture is French.

(News item 8 november 2012)