Project: the joint project "Slovak Soil in Flemish Art": Tracing trade and technology of two leading regions in the Renaissance
Beneficiary: the University of Antwerp
Budget: 24.000 euros
Periode: 2018
The purpose of the project is to find evidence of the technological connection between the Renaissance painters of the Antwerp School and Slovak’s leading mining industry.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the mining industry in Slovakia started producing a series of innovative copper pigments that instantly found its way to Flemish artists, thanks to Antwerp’s role as central European hub for trade, art production, and science. The University of Antwerp will use its technological advances in chemical imaging and heritage science by bringing to light the use of these materials for the first time. In this way, Flanders high-tech of today can be used to showcase its high-tech of the past.
The project is a multidisciplinary research project of the University of Antwerp in cooperation with the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), Museum Mayer van de Bergh, the Royal Institute for Art Heritage (KIK-KRPA) and the Slovak partners Slovak National Gallery (SNG) and Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS).