Oud Holland December issue: the reliquary shrine of Saint Odilia (1292)
In the final pages of the year Oud Holland is pleased to feature three articles. The first offers an in-depth iconographic analysis of a reliquary shrine kept in Borgloon. Combining medieval and early modern sources with technical analysis of the wooden panels, Jeroen Reyniers meticulously reconstructs the original composition of the shrine to offer an insightful new reading of the vivid scenes from the life of Saint Odilia.
Also included in this issue is Carla van de Puttelaar and Fred Meijer’s stylistic and comparative study of four portraits. Although these paintings had been modified over time, thanks to the findings of technical research the authors have identified the hand of the highly skilled portraitist Abraham de Vries (c. 1590-1649/1650), who was active in the Netherlands and France during the first half of the seventeenth century.
In the final article, Lidwien Speleers sheds new light on a letter from François Oliviers to the stadholder’s secretary, Constantijn Huygens. This correspondence from 1649 provides fascinating details about the supply of prepared canvases. Notably, the canvases he references were intended for the famous painted decorations in the Oranjezaal of Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague.
Summaries of all three articles can be found on the Oud Holland website.
Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries 2023 – 4, volume 136:
- Jeroen Reyniers
The reliquary shrine of Saint Odilia in Borgloon (1292): An iconographical reconstruction - Carla van de Puttelaar & Fred G. Meijer
Under the skin: Portraits by Abraham de Vries (c. 1590-1649/50) recognised and revealed - Lidwien Speleers
Three documents concerning the Oranjezaal, Huis ten Bosch (1648-1652): A new find and two more precise datings
Oud Holland
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