A New Look for the Galleries of Earlier European Art
The process of reconsidering the display of works from the collections, which began with the medieval gallery and the galleries dedicated to late-eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European art, has continued with the newly reopened galleries of European art from the thirteenth through the eighteenth century. In the same spirit as the later European galleries, the most recent reinstallation features a new selection of works, with a lively mix of media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts, accompanied by interpretive information to provide contextual insights into the works on view. Refurbishment of the galleries, new wall colors and fabrics, and redesigned casework similarly spark the rediscovery of old favorites, such as Guido da Siena’s Annunciation (1270s), Fra Angelico’s Penitent Saint Jerome (1419–20), or Abraham Bloemaert’s Four Evangelists(1612–15), as well as recently acquired treasures, such as Angelica Kauffmann’s Portrait of Sarah Harrop (Mrs. Bates) as a Muse (1780–81).
Following a “hang” that is broadly chronological yet focused on thematic and visual clusters that bring together related works across artistic media, the galleries include works by well-known masters along with important masterpieces by lesser-known artists. The selection of gold-ground pictures from the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries with which the installation begins is particularly rich. Among the new, more provocative juxtapositions are Fra Angelico’s Penitent Saint Jerome with a drawing from the School of Perugino portraying the same saint, and the Master of the Greenville Tondo’s Saint Sebastian alongside a Roman marble torso of a youth from the second century A.D. that collectively offer insights into the ways in which Renaissance artists turned to antiquity for inspiration even as they adapted their discoveries to narratives important to their own moment and to the purposes of their patrons.
Given their sensitivity to light, the newly installed drawings and prints can only be shown for a few months at a time, requiring that they be frequently changed, thus creating regular opportunities to bring on view many of the Museum’s rarely seen treasures on paper. In the inaugural installation, visitors will see examples from the Museum’s rich holdings of works by the German Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer, whose original carved woodblock for The Holy Family with Three Haresfrom the late fifteenth century is shown with a woodcut made from the block, allowing the visitor to understand more about the printmaking process, as well as affording an appreciation of Dürer’s consummate skill as both designer and carver. The innovative genius of the seventeenth-century master Rembrandt van Rijn is represented by two of his secular etchings, as well as by a stunning impression of the late drypoint Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves (The Three Crosses). Collectively these demonstrate the Dutch master’s complete reconsideration of the medium of printmaking, which places him among its great masters. Some of the greatest treasures from the Museum’s drawings collection are also incorporated, including an exquisite preparatory study for an altarpiece by the Italian Counter-Reformation master Federico Barocci.
Princeton’s Dutch Mannerist paintings, a rich assembly of such works that is unparalleled in any American museum, occupies the center of a suite of three galleries, now complemented by extraordinary works of decorative art, including a selection of sixteenth-century majolica from the Museum’s fine holdings of this brightly colored ware. In the following gallery, paintings by Pietro da Cortona and Anthony Van Dyck, acknowledged masterpieces of Baroque painting, share the walls with preparatory sketches by Guercino and Giambattista Tiepolo, providing a sense of the artistic process in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe. Subject pictures are also well represented with exceptional flower and still-life paintings by Balthasar van der Ast and Jan van Huysum, and an enigmatic work by Ludolf de Jongh, on loan from a private collection, a masterwork deserving greater recognition. Finally, the female portrait figures large—with Cornelis Jonson van Ceulen’sPortrait of a Woman (1655–56) and Jean-Marc Nattier’s Madame de Flesselles (1747) providing a broadly European context for the newly acquired portrait by Angelica Kauffmann, which receives the position of honor in these galleries.
All the works are supported by didactic materials, with individual or group labels, to be supplemented in the future by a range of print and digital interpretive tools that help place the objects in their historical and artistic contexts. These materials are the fruit of an ongoing collaborative process that relies upon the collective expertise of Research Curator of European Paintings and Sculpture Betsy Rosasco; Heather and Paul G. Haaga Jr., Class of 1970, Curator of Prints and Drawings Laura M. Giles; Curator of Education and Academic Programming Caroline Harris; Director James Steward; and Sarah Lynch and Elizabeth J. Petcu, graduate students in the Department of Art and Archaeology and the Museum’s first Joseph F. McCrindle Interns; as well as members of the Museum’s Publications and Information Technology Departments. The refreshed galleries of European art take their place alongside the gallery of medieval, Byzantine, and Islamic art in reflecting a renewed commitment to make deep and exciting use of the Museum’s exceptional collections, and to present those collections to the public in experientially substantive and meaningful ways, whether the visitor is seeking moments of quiet reflection or looking for new ways to understand art of the past and present. The Museum staff looks forward to extending these approaches to other areas of the collections in the months and years ahead.