MICHIEL COXCIEThe Flemish Raphael31.10.13 >< 23.02.14

Jan Gossaert & Michiel Coxcie, right wing of the St. Luke Altarpiece © National Gallery Prague 2013

2MICHIEL COXCIE The Flemish Raphael

Michiel Coxcie (1499 - 1592) was one of the most influential painters in the sixteenth-century Netherlands. He was dubbed the “Flemish Raphael”, which just goes to show how highly rated he was by his contemporaries. During his lifetime he was compared to the greatest renaissance artist Raphael and some even saw him as his equal.

Coxcie was trained in the studio of Bernard van Orley in Brussels in the 1520s. During a seven-year stay in Italy, Coxcie rose to prominence as an artist, painting (among other things) the frescoes for the old St Peter’s Church in Rome. On returning home, Coxcie introduced a style of painting based purely on that of the Italian High Renaissance, thereby bringing about an artistic revolution in the Netherlands. He was one of Charles V’s favourite painters and quickly rose to become court painter to Philip II. In that capacity, he had the honour of working with Titan on frescoes for the Imperial Palace in Binche. As well as producing paintings for the Spanish court, he also designed many tapestries and stained-glass windows.

Few Flemish painters gained such respect and had so much influence on their contemporaries as Michiel Coxcie. Artists went on reworking his inventions until well into the seventeenth century. Even Rubens drew inspiration from them.

M – Museum Leuven pays tribute to Coxcie with the very first monographic exhibition devoted to this previously little-known but brilliant artist. Coxcie’s impressive body of work comprising numerous paintings, monumental stained-glass windows, famous series of graphics and tapestries testifies to his extraordinarily wide-ranging talent. The monographic exhibi-tion entitled Michiel Coxcie. The Flemish Raphael covers the various aspects of the master’s life and work, from his youth and time in Italy to his greatest realizations in the Low Countries. As well as important paintings like the Hosden Triptych and the Morillon Triptych from its own museum collection, M will be showing numerous loans from great art-historical museums elsewhere in Europe. Portions of his famous copy of Van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, commissioned by the King of Spain, will be brought together from several foreign collections. With Michiel Coxcie. The Flemish Raphael, for the very first time M – Museum Leuven is presenting an important cross-section of the master’s varied output.

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MICHIEL COXCIE The Flemish Raphael 31.10.13 >< 23.02.14

LENDERS

Museo del Prado, Madrid British Museum, LondonStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie El Escorial, Madrid Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid Rijksmuseum AmsterdamAlte Pinakothek, MünchenHAUM, Braunschweig Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, BerlinKoninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Brussels National Gallery, Prague Stiftgalerie, Kremsmünster

Michiel Coxcie, Triptych with the triumph of Christ and the donor’s family Moril-lon (detail) © M- Museum Leuven | photo : Paul Laes

Michiel Coxcie, David and Goliath © Patrimonio Nacional

3MICHIEL COXCIE The Flemish Raphael

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Michiel Coxcie, The Holy Kinship © Stift Kremsmünster | photo: Fotostudio Leemans Michiel Coxcie, Saint John the Baptist, private collection © photo : Fotostudio Leemans

TICKETSVisiteurs individuels € 12* Consessions € 10*< 26 year € 5Children ≤ 13y. free

* AUDIOTOUR INCLUDED Available in EN, D, FR, G

GUIDED TOURS FOR GROUPS≥ 15 pers. € 70 for the guide EN + € 6 / ticket

< 15 pers. € 70 for the guide EN + € 8 / ticket

ONLY GUIDED TOURS LED BY OUR AUTHORIZED GUIDES ARE PERMITTED | RESERVATION ESSENTIAL MIN. 2 WEEKS IN ADVANCE+32 (0)16 27 29 29 | M@LEUVEN.BE

PUBLICATIONSVarious publications in EN, NL and FR | available from the M-shop

B-EXCURSIONS TRAIN + TICKETOn sale in every Belgian station

Group excursion: Contact Center SNCB Mobility : +32 (0)2 528 28 28

WWW.SNCB.BE

4MICHIEL COXCIE The Flemish Raphael

ABOUT M – MUSEUM LEUVEN

M – MUSEUM LEUVENM – Museum Leuven opened in September 2009 with the prestigious exhibition Rogier van der Weyden 1400 | 1464 – Mas-ter of Passions. The impressive museum building designed by leading Belgian architect Stéphane Beel, integrates historical and contemporary architecture around a tranquil garden. The museum houses a permanent historical collection pivoting on the late Gothic – marvellous fifteenth and early-sixteenth-century paintings and sculptures – and boasting nineteenth-century chef-d’oeuvres by Constantin Meunier, Jef Lambeaux and Georges Minne. M also mounts temporary exhi-bitions of both old masters and contemporary artists.

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© Karel Rondou

© Marco Mertens

© Jan Kempenaers

© Jan De Vijver

5MICHIEL COXCIE The Flemish Raphael

ABOUT LEUVEN

Leuven is located right in the heart of Belgium. Whether you land at Brussels airport, arrive at Brussels Midi by train or tour Belgium by car, you are never far from Leuven. Leuven’s accessibility is one of its attractions, but there are many more good reasons to visit this beautiful city on the Dyle.

LOVE LEUVEN!Few other places in Flanders capture the imagination as much as this Burgundian university city. Whatever floats your boat – whether it’s arts and culture, historical and contemporary architecture, shopping or gastronomy – you’ll find it in Leuven - a city on a human scale, a city with its finger on the pulse!

Stroll along the shopping streets in the city centre and you’ll automatically come to the world-famous Town Hall, the muse-ums and other temples of culture. Follow the walking and cycling trails and you’ll soon discover the city’s fascinating nooks and crannies.

Walk the streets where Erasmus, Vesalius and Mercator once walked. Soak up the atmosphere of a city steeped in history and culture, the city that boasts Belgium’s oldest and arguably most prestigious university, not to mention countless res-taurants and cafés. Everything is within walking distance so you can easily explore Leuven on your own, but if you would rather be accompanied, you can book a guide through Tourism Leuven.

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Sint-Pieterskerk © Toerisme Leuven Stadhuis © Milo-Profi

TOURISM LEUVENNaamsestraat 3, B-3000 Leuven+ 32 (0)16 20 30 20WWW.VISITLEUVEN.BE

TOURISM FLANDERS-BRUSSELSLondon+44 (0)20 7307 7738 | info@visitflanders.co.uk

f l a n d e r sbelgium

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MICHIEL COXCIE IN LEUVEN

Michiel Coxcie, after Jan and Hubert van Eyck, Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (detail) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie | photo: Jörg P. Anders

MICHIEL COXCIE IN LEUVEN

COXCIE WALKCoxcie was active during the Counter-Reformation, the sixteenth-century reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church. He painted propaganda for and religious scenes commissioned by the Catholic Church. On their walk in Leuven city centre visitors will find traces of this fascinating period. The route takes in churches, several of which will be open spe-cially for the exhibition at M. Find out how a church service was conducted at the time of the Counter-Reformation and about the humanist tradition of Guy Morillon, secretary to Charles V and Coxcie’s main patron in Leuven.

INDIVIDUAL VISITORSMap of the Coxcie Walk € 1 available from Tourism Leuven | available in EN, NL, FR, D and SP

GROUPS Coxcie Walk accompanied by a guide € 60EN, NL, FR and D | max. 25 people Reservation essential, no later than 3 weeks in advance: Tourism Leuven, +32 (0)16 27 22 76 of visit@leuven.be

DAY TRIP FOR GROUPSTourism Leuven is offering day trips to tie in with the Michiel Coxcie. The Flemish Raphael exhibition. A visit to the exhibi-tion can be combined with a guided Coxcie Walk in historic Leuven and lunch in a convivial restaurant.

PRICE depending on the chosen formula (transport not included) | min. number of participants: 20 VALID every day; a surcharge of €40 per group is payable on Wednesdays (museum closing day) INFORMATION & BOOKINGS Tourism Leuven, T. +32 (0)16 27 22 73 - trips@leuven.be | reservation essential, no later than 3 weeks in advance

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MICHIEL COXCIE IN BRUSSELS

Michiel Coxcie, Triptiek met taferelen uit het leven van Christus © Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, Brussel | foto: Grafisch Buro Lefevre, Heule

Naar ontwerp van Michiel Coxcie, Glasraam met Maria van Hongarije en Lodewijk, H. Sacramentskapel, kathedraal Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele, Brussel © KIK-IRPA, Brussels

CATHEDRAL OF ST MICHAEL AND ST GUDULADiscover the monumental stained glass windows and altarpieces by Coxcie in Brussels Cathedral. A small exhibition focuses attention on four sixteenth-century stained glass windows, still in their original location in the Chapel of the Mira-cle of the Holy Sacrament. Coxcie designed them at the request of the mighty sovereign Charles V, who saw them as an excellent propaganda tool. Among the master’s three triptychs is his last, known work, The legend of St Gudula.

Parvis Sainte-Gudule B-1000 Brussels WWW.CATHEDRALESTMICHEL.BE

ROYAL MUSEUMS OF FINE ARTS OF BELGIUMOldmasters MuseumThe Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium house two very large triptychs by Michiel Coxcie which cannot travel to Leuven. The monumental masterpieces Triptych with Scenes from the Life of Christ and Triptych of the Brussels Crossbow Guild will be on show by way of exception in a temporary presentation of works from the Royal Museums’ collection.

Rue de la Régence 3B-1000 Brussels WWW.FINE-ARTS-MUSEUM.BE

INFORMATION

M - MUSEUM LEUVEN L. Vanderkelenstraat 28B-3000 Leuven+32 (0)16 27 29 29m@leuven.be

Mon - Tue en Fri - Sun: 11:00 >< 18:00 OPEN ON MONDAYS!

Thu: 11:00 >< 22:00Closed on Wednesdays

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PRESS CONTACT

M - MUSEUM LEUVEN:Tourism Flanders-Brussels1a Cavendish SquareLondon W1G 0LDPress Service+44 (0)20 7307 7738info@visitflanders.co.uk

TOURISM LEUVEN:Nancy Brouwers+ 32 (0)16 27 22 77nancy.brouwers@leuven.be

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Michiel Coxcie, detail (self portrait), Story of Saint George © KMSKA

With the support of the King Baudouin Foundation, Fonds Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché

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