11.05.2026-12.19.2026
DEVOTIO
Saints in 16th- and 17th-Century Flemish Painting
Since the Middle Ages, art and devotion have formed a universal message to the Christian world. Holy figures are depicted in a unique style that makes them—and their stories—easily recognizable. A visual vocabulary has developed through the attributes, clothing, objects, poses, and animals that accompany these divine portraits. In a Europe fragmented by various religious movements and social and intellectual disparities, this language served as a unifying force. While there were certainly few images, every one of them was interpreted.
Given the decline in familiarity with sacred texts, this form of visual communication may now require explanation. While the essence of the arts is less widely understood, they continue to attract keen interest. This exhibition offers an opportunity to encounter Saint Christopher, Saint Jerome, Saint Barbara, and Saint Mary Magdalene by observing, comparing, and connecting symbols.
It is also an opportunity to see that even in Flemish painting, the saintly figure is not the only one to speak. The clothing, the landscape, the elements, the light, and the textures chosen by our artists also carry meaning: that of beauty—the meaning most needed today.
Image
Maître anonyme d’après Marinus van Reymerswaele
Saint-Jérôme, milieu du XVe siècle
panneau 49 x 62,8 cm