This symposium is dedicated to the iconological and anthropological study of late medieval and early modern liturgical objects (1400-1800), once known as ornamenta sacra.
Maurits Smeyers (1937-1999) was a Belgian art historian and full professor at KU Leuven. He founded Illuminare in 1983, which was first established as a study centre for medieval book illumination. Professor Smeyers was a celebrated expert of medieval art, notably of Flemish book illumination, pre-Eyckian painting and Jan van Eyck. His extensive archives were donated…
On 17 September 2019 LECTIO (Leuven Centre for the Study of the Transmission of Texts and Ideas) and Illuminare – Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Art (KU Leuven) organise a round table on “Netherlandish Carved Altarpieces in the Nordic Regions” together.
Iconology is a two-faced beast. To students, it is often presented as a functional subordinate to art history. In the practice of research, it transgresses the borders of its discipline and can devour whole universes of images. Indeed, iconology, as envisioned by Aby Warburg, is supposed to study images produced inside and outside the realm of…
Until 25 September 2022 the exhibition ‘Traces: Renaissance Drawings for Flemish Prints’ can be visited at the Courtauld Gallery. This showcase is curated by Maarten Bassens, affiliated researcher at Illuminare and Getty Paper Project Curatorial Fellow at the Courtauld.
Professor Jan Karel Steppe (1918-2009) was a renowned specialist of Flemish tapestry, early Netherlandish painting (notably Jan van Eyck and Hieronymus Bosch), medieval sculpture, religious (micro)architecture and sixteenth-century Spanish collectors of Netherlandish art. His archives were donated to Illuminare in 2010 and 2018. They consist of a rich variety of resources, including books, articles, handwritten…
Dr. Wendy Wauters
The Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts has awarded Wendy Wauters the Mgr. Charles de Clercq prize 2022 for her work “De beroering van de religieuze ruimte. De belevingswereld van kerkgangers in de Antwerpse Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, ca. 1450-1566”.
Professor Jan Van der Stock
On 9 may, prof. Barbara Baert held the inaugural lecture entitled “Rocks and Tears. Niobe’s Fate as Dynamics of Form” for her Professur der Aby-Warburg-Stiftung 2023.
