Experience this hidden gem of a Flemish Master for the first time

Flemish Masters in Situ: Gerard Seghers, The vision of Saint Gertrude (1625)

With the project Flemish Masters in Situ, 'Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen' wants to share works by Flemish Masters that are still on display in their original location with a wide audience. Thanks to the King Boudewijn Foundation and with the support of the Baillet-Latour Fund we were able to have the monumental altarpiece ‘The vision of Saint Gertrude’ by Gerard Seghers restored. This painting was painted in approximately 1625 for the Saint Gertrude's Chapel, which was erected around that time in the castle domain.

You will be able to admire the restored work in the Coach House of the castle and find out all about it through an interactive touchscreen and a personal audio story. As an added bonus, Peter de Cupere created a scented installation ‘tailored’ to the painting. 

The painting

An angel in a golden robe and a green cloak leads Saint Gertrude to Mary and the child Jesus. Commissioning churches, chapels, schools and infirmaries and caring for the poor and needy, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles was mainly known for her hospitality to pilgrims. Though she was also very knowledgeable when it came to the Holy Scripture and she was a mystic who had visions, as depicted on this canvas. Her aid was often called in against fever, lunacy and rat and mice infestations, the latter of which inspired her attribute: a staff surrounded by mice. Charming groups of angels float above Maria and Gertrudis.

The painter

Gerard Seghers (1591-1651) was born and raised in Antwerp. Between 1611 and 1620 Seghers worked in Italy, where he became enthralled by the dramatic work of Caravaggio and his pupil Manfredi. By late 1620 Seghers had relocated to Antwerp again, where he painted a great many nocturnal scenes at first. In addition to being a succesful painter, Seghers also thrived as an art merchant.

'He was very sweet and tender in all his work', reads a line of verse in an ode from 1661. 'Even in a hundred years from now, his art will inspire great devotion in many a righteous soul.' 

In Situ: Chapel of Saint Gertrude

Count René de Renesse embellished Gaasbeek Castle and its park during the first half of the seventeeth century. This was also when the chapel assumed its current Baroque appearance. In 1628 the chapel was solemnly dedicated to Saint Gertrude. At this occassion, the painting by Antwerp master Seghers was placed on the high altar. That, at least, is what we suspect.

Due to climatic conditions, however, the painting will be exhibited in the former Coach House of Gaasbeek Castle. 

The fragrance 

Peter de Cupere (Leuven, °1970) is a Flemish olfactory artist who regularly exhibits in Belgium and abroad. For Flemish Masters in Situ, he sets out to create exactly the right fragrance that would inspire visitors to experience and look at the painting before them in a completely new way. 
For his fragrance composition for The vision of Saint Gertrude, Peter de Cupere was inspired by the illustration of the white lily and the vermin underneath. In addition, the colour tonality and the original location where the painting hung also played an important role in composing the scent. 
 

 

Practical info / 1 June to 30 September 2019, open daily from 10 AM until 6 PM, closed on monday, open on holidays. Included in your visit to the castle. If you only want to visit Flemish Masters in Situ: € 1, -18 years: free. 

More information: 
www.kasteelvangaasbeek.be 
www.vlaamsemeestersinsitu.be

Gerard Seghers, The vision of Saint Gertrude (1625), collection Gaasbeek CastleGerard Seghers, The vision of Saint Gertrude (1625), collection Gaasbeek Castle© Peter de Cupere© Peter de Cupere
Saint Gertrude's Chapel in the grounds of Gaasbeek Castle © photo: Tess ThibautSaint Gertrude's Chapel in the grounds of Gaasbeek Castle © photo: Tess Thibaut
Gaasbeek Castlewww.kasteelvangaasbeek.be
Flemish Masters in Situwww.vlaamsemeestersinsitu.be

Tess Thibaut

Press and Communication, Kasteel Van Gaasbeek

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About Gaasbeek Castle

Gaasbeek Castle sits enthroned amidst the rolling hills of Pajottenland just outside Brussels. The medieval castle has had an eventful history, evolving from a strategic stronghold to a spacious country house. The Count of Egmond, was one of its best-known owners. The present building was given its romantic restyling at the end of the nineteenth century by the enigmatic French Marchioness Arconati Visconti. She was the daughter-in-law of aristocrats Giuseppe and Costanza Arconati Visconti, who, between 1821 and 1839, turned the castle into a unique meeting place for intellectual exchanges between exiled Italian politicians, European writers and scientists. Marie Arconati Visconti was also interested in the great intellectual debates of her time, as her correspondence with and support for Alfred Dreyfus testify. She set up the castle as a museum for her considerable art collection and treated it like a historical theatre set. The dream castle created then is still something of a time machine with its historic interiors, tapestries, paintings, furniture, sculptures and other valuable objects.

The castle park, with its centuries-old trees, ponds, lanes, winding paths and occasional historic buildings, is the ideal place for winding down. The estate also includes a unique museum garden where old varieties of fruit and vegetables are cultivated. 

Contact

Kasteelstraat 40 1750 Gaasbeek (Lennik)

+3225310130

[email protected]

www.kasteelvangaasbeek.be