Ancient Art : Luxembourg National Museum of History and Art - Culture & Tourism

For historical reasons, Luxembourg doesn't possess any ancient collections of important noble or bourgeois art. As such, the national collections of art have been progressively formed only since the end of the 19th century by purchase, donation, bequest or loan. The first room is dedicated to Italian paintings from the 12th to the 16th century, incidentally very rare on a regional scale. Amongst these gothic works, the most important is by Giacomo del Pisano. They are characterised by the idealism of portraits with lengthened silhouettes, the use of a gilded monochromatic base and the use of lively colours. These gothic works are mostly religious paintings on wood, originally intended to adorn altars of churches. The dominant theme is therefore the depiction of the Blessed Virgin and of Christ. The painting of Giovanni Ambrogio Belvilacqua is comprised of two pioneering elements of architecture and is characterised by a realist representation of human figures. Therefore, it shows a transition within the art of the Renaissance period. The art of the Renaissance is distinguished by a return to the ideas of ancient art. The artists are interested in the proportions of architecture and of the human body as well as in perspective. The colours become more vibrant and follow the study of nature. The work The Carrying of the Cross, by an unknown Flemish painter, dating from the end of the 16th century, forms an important part of the collection. It presents a chapter of the Passion of the Christ, Jesus carrying his cross to the mountain of Golgotha. On the left, you will find the Flemish version of the town of Jerusalem. The jewel in the crown of these ancient paintings is unarguably the work Bacchus, Venus and Love, from the Italian painter Rosso Fiorentino. The image was painted for the King of France, Francois I, circa 1530. It shows Bacchus, the god of wine and drunkenness, and accompanied by one of his disciplines, the little satyr at the top of the picture. Next to Bacchus, you find Venus, the goddess of love. Cupid is sat on the lion in reference to the first French king. This work can be considered as the founding painting of the school of Fontainebleau. The 17th century painting Scene of a Shipwreck, by the Dutch painter Adam Peinecker, offers an insight into the Italianism present in his works. The painting is dominated by imposing countryside. Among the distinctive works from the ancient art section, it is worth also noting two watercolours by William Turner depicting Luxembourg, painted around 1839. And naturally, we should not forget the drawing, dating from 1871, from the famous French writer Victor Hugo, showing the castle of the little village of Schengen, the same that gave its name to the European agreements at the end of the 20th century on free circulation.