Master of the Baroncelli portraits at the Groeninge Museum

One of the most spectacular paintings of the Flemish Primitives, which was to be seen in the previous decade at the prestigious art fair TEFAF in Maastricht, will be exhibited in the Groeninge Museum beginning this week.

It concerns a panel with the depiction of Pentecost that was completed by the Master of the Baroncelli portraits (an anonymous painter from Bruges) around 1480/90. The impressive panel was auctioned off at Christies in London for a record amount two years ago and last year was brought to Maastricht by Jean-Luc Baroni. Now, the artwork will be given to the Groeninge Museum on long-term loan from a private collection. The painting, which since the beginning of the 20th Century was to be found in the Bruges Rappart collection, returns to its original artistic milieu and now will be shown to the public along with the masterpieces of Hugo van der Goes and Hans Memling.

The panel of the Master of the Baroncelli Portraits, over whom the Groeninge Museum is preparing a dossier exhibition monograph, represents a significant added value for the Flemish Primitives from Bruges that currently are enhanced by a few long-term loans from the Mauritshuis in The Hague and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp.

In addition to the high-profile panel, the Groeninge Museum is also showing for the first time two important 16th-century loans from a private owner, amongst which are a recently re-discovered painting of Saint Hieronymus by Jan Sanders van Hemessen and a patron's portrait by the Bruges painter Adriaen Isenbrandt.

In the rooms of the Groeninge Museum, a few masterpieces from the Museum van de Edele Confrerie van het Heilig Bloed (currently undergoing restoration) are also exhibited. These beautiful complements to the collection make a visit to the Groeninge Museum particularly special for the art lovers of the Flemish Primitives. While the loans from private owners are exhibited for a longer period in the Groeninge Museum, the painting collection of the Confrerie is only to be seen until the middle of April. At that point, the installation of the exhibition Fabienne Verdier: homage to the Flemish Masters begins.

More info: Website

(News item 28 February 2013)