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Date: March 1, 2002
 

Religious Paintings by Van Dyck and Titian on View at Princeton University Art Museum

Exhibition Dates: March 9 through June 9, 2002

PRINCETON -- Two religious paintings by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck will be reunited for the first time in twenty years at the Princeton University Art Museum in

the small, focused exhibition, "Anthony van Dyck: Ecce Homo and The Mocking of Christ," due to open Saturday, March 9, and remain on view through June 9, 2002.

Richard Verdi, director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, England, is the guest curator of the exhibition, which will include Van Dyck's Ecce Homo from the Barber Institute and the artist's Mocking of Christ from Princeton's permanent collection.

The two paintings will be seen together for the first time since the exhibition "Anthony van Dyck as a Religious Artist," organized by Professor John Rupert Martin in 1979. That groundbreaking exhibition was an overview of the religious works of an artist whose major role in the history of portraiture had overshadowed his substantial contributions to religious art.

In the present exhibition the Princeton and Birmingham paintings are juxtaposed with a third work, a magnificent Ecce Homo by the greatest sixteenth-century Venetian painter, Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian, which is lent by the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Two preparatory drawings by Van Dyck and eight prints after scenes from the Passion by Van Dyck and earlier artists also will be exhibited.

Richard Verdi argues in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition that Van Dyck was decisively influenced by this or a similar Ecce Homo of Titian when he composed the Barber Institute and Princeton paintings. The catalogue offers an examination of Van Dyck's use of sources and his interpretation of two central scenes in the Passion of Christ.

During the summer of 2002, the Mocking of Christ and Ecce Homo will be shown with the Titian Ecce Homo at the National Gallery of Ireland,. The three paintings are then scheduled to travel to the Courtauld Gallery, London, to be exhibited with a related oil sketch on paper by Van Dyck that is too fragile to travel. The Barber Institute will be the final venue for the fully reconstituted exhibition in the fall of 2002. Princeton is thus the only American venue for the exhibition that is made possible by support from the Friends of Princeton University Art Museum.

Two auxiliary exhibitions, "In the Mirror of Christ's Passion: In Search of Artistry and Spirituality" and "Reflections of the Passion: Selected Works from the Princeton University Art Museum," have been organized in conjunction with the Van Dyck exhibition. A full program of events, including lectures, gallery talks, concerts, and a series of films introduced by Princeton faculty members, also has been scheduled.

 
Related Exhibitions

March 9 - June 9, 2002

"In the Mirror of Christ's Passion: In Search of Artistry and Spirituality"

March 9 - June 9, 2002

"Reflections of the Passion: Selected Works from the Princeton University Art Museum"

 
Related Events

March 9, 2002

5:00 p.m. Lecture: "Anthony van Dyck: The Portraitist as History Painter." Richard Verdi, director, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, England. McCormick 101.

6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Opening Reception for "Anthony van Dyck: Ecce Homo and The Mocking of Christ," "In the Mirror of Christ's Passion: In Search of Artistry and Spirituality," and "Reflections of the Passion: Selected Works from the Princeton University Art Museum." Princeton University Art Museum.

March 17

4:00 p.m. Music: Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Mark Laycock, music director. "Easter: Passion and Redemption." Works by Cesti-Stokowski, Haydn, Pfitzner, and Wagner. Richardson Auditorium. Reception to follow, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., Princeton University Art Museum.

April 5

12:30 p.m. (and April 7, 3:00 p.m.) Gallery Talk: "Titian, Van Dyck, and the Body of Christ." Betsy Rosasco, associate curator of Later Western art, Princeton University Art Museum.

April 7

3:00 p.m. Gallery Talk: "Titian, Van Dyck, and the Body of Christ." Betsy Rosasco, associate curator of Later Western art, Princeton University Art Museum.

April 12

7:00 p.m. Film: Martin Scorcese, The Last Temptation of Christ. Introduced by P. Adams Sitney, professor, Visual Arts Program. James Stewart Theater, 185 Nassau Street. Reception to follow, Lucas Gallery.

April 19

12:30 p.m. Gallery Talk: "Reflections of the Passion in the Art of the Late Middle Ages." Victoria S. Reed, Friends curatorial research associate, Princeton University Art Museum.

April 19

7:00 p.m. Film: Pier Paolo Pasolini, The Gospel According to Matthew. Introduced by Jeffrey L. Stout, professor, Department of Religious Studies. James Stewart Theater, 185 Nassau Street.

April 21

3:00 p.m. Music: Princeton Singers in Concert. Steven Sametz, artistic director. Mary Ellen Bowen Gallery, Princeton University Art Museum.

April 23

4:30 p.m. Lecture: "Christ's Passion in Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages." James Marrow, professor emeritus, Department of Art and Archaeology. McCormick 101. Reception to follow in the lobby of McCormick. 101

April 26

12:30 p.m. (and April 28, 3:00 p.m.) Gallery Talk: "The Mirror of Christ's Passion." Todor Todorov, graduate student, Department of Art and Archaeology. Princeton University Art Museum.

7:00 p.m. Film: Luis Buñuel, Viridiana. Introduced by Michael Wood, chairman, Department of English. James Stewart Theater, 185 Nassau Street.

April 28

3:00 p.m. Gallery Talk: "The Mirror of Christ's Passion." Todor Todorov, graduate student, Department of Art and Archaeology. Princeton University Art Museum.

 

The art museum is open to the public without charge. Free highlights tours of the collection are given every Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. It is closed on Monday and major holidays. The museum shop closes at 5:00 p.m. The museum is located in the middle of the Princeton University campus. Picasso's large sculpture Head of a Woman stands in front. For further information, please call (609) 258-3788.

  

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