Autumn issue Oud Holland 138 (2025) 2/3
The new double issue of Oud Holland is extra diverse. It features a historiographical analysis of a late medieval panel, a reconstruction of a fascinating eighteenth-century interior, and a historical overview of the print collection of one of the Netherland’s leading museums. The issue ends with two reviews of publications on Rubens and Van Gogh.
Frans Nies questions whether the mysterious panel with the three Marys at the tomb from the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen can indeed be attributed to Jan van Eyck, or instead to an anonymous follower. Although the painting technique and underdrawing of the panel show 'Eyckian' characteristics, the iconography indicates that it was made after Van Eyck's death. Dendrochronological analysis also supports this later dating.
Josephina de Fouw uses an until-now overlooked nineteenth-century floor plan and other archival findings to offer new insights about the interior of Constantijn Huygens' iconic city palace on the Plein in The Hague. The original paintings, tapestries, chimney pieces, and sculptures, are all discussed in the article, as well as later modifications to the interior, and the distribution of objects after the demolition of the house in 1876.
Joyce Zelen shows that the relatively unknown print collection of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem fulfilled a hybrid role in the nineteenth century. Her central question is to what extent the collection of prints followed a preconceived plan, or if it was rather shaped by the personal preferences of the successive directors. Zelen also reveals that prints were rarely exhibited across much of the Teylers’ history, they were mainly used as material for drawing lessons.
Koen Bulckens reviews a new publication that brings together ten studies by Arnout Balis, professor of art history at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, chairman of the Centrum Rubenianum and renowned Rubens expert. Balis’ untimely death in 2021 prompted the volume, which was edited by two of his close friends, Elizabeth McGrath and Paul van Calster.
Bregje Gerritse reviews 'Travelling with Vincent: Van Gogh in Drenthe', the catalogue for an exhibition organised by the Drents Museum in 2023. Although the twelve weeks that Van Gogh spent in Drenthe in 1883 has thus far been discounted, the multi-year research project by chief curator Annemiek Rens demonstrates that this period is deserving of greater attention.
Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries 2025– 2/3, volume 138:
- Frans Nies
The attribution of Jan van Eyck’s Three Marys at the tomb reconsidered: A historiographical analysis of a mid-fifteenth-century panel painting - Josephina de Fouw
‘Ce superbe Palais’: The interior of the Huygens House in The Hague (1634-1785) - Joyce Zelen
A patchwork of prints: Tracing the development of the print collection of the Teylers Museum over the long nineteenth century - Koen Bulckens
Review of Elizabeth McGrath and Paul van Calster (eds.), Thinking through Rubens: Selected studies by Arnout Balis, Turnhout [Brepols] 2023 Bregje Gerritse
Review of Annemiek Rens, Mark Goslinga, and Jan van Zijverden, Travelling with Vincent: Van Gogh in Drenthe, Zwolle [Waanders] 2023