Dr Bram van Leuveren (𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺/𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮)

💫What a delightful start of 2026!

This weekend I travelled to Venlo - in Dutch #Limburg - to visit “Burgundians in Limburg” (Limburgs Museum): a wonderful exhibition on the #Burgundian splendour of the late 14th- and 15th-century #Meuse region. [1/6]

... singing actors riding real #elephants🐘, banquet tables laden with swan and peacock pies descending from the ceiling—and a mysterious #pheasant encrusted with jewels! [6/6]

🏰... organised by Philip the Good in 1454 at Lille’s Palais de #Rihour to announce, with great pomp, his crusade to Constantinople. A megalomaniacal piece of ephemeral court #spectacle ... [5/6]

Or—going even further back in time—the alabaster arcade carved by Claus Sluter in the late 14th century for the tomb of Philip the Bold at #Champmol, a high point of Burgundian sculpture. 🦢 Especially delightful is the theatrical evocation of the #Banquet of the Pheasant ... [4/6]

Equally remarkable is the mechanical breastplate of Maximilian of Habsburg from Vienna, which could burst apart during #tournaments🫅 And there's the gemstone-encrusted crown that Margaret of York donated in 1474 to the statue of the Virgin in Aachen Cathedral during a ceremonial entry. [3/6]

The exhibit features many international masterpieces🤺Among them is Gérard Loyet’s exquisitely beautiful reliquary of Charles the Bold from #Liège: the furrows in the faces of the duke and his patron saint, St George, are rendered with striking sensitivity in gilded silver. [2/6]

💫What a delightful start of 2026!

This weekend I travelled to Venlo - in Dutch #Limburg - to visit “Burgundians in Limburg” (Limburgs Museum): a wonderful exhibition on the #Burgundian splendour of the late 14th- and 15th-century #Meuse region. [1/6]

✨ It was an honour being able to witness the ancient #Cypriot Feast of #Theophany today, January 6! While Western traditions often celebrate the Magi's visit of Bethlehem, the #Eastern Church marks this day by commemorating the #baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. [1/4]

The ceremony took place before a 10th-century #Byzantine church, boasting remarkably preserved frescoes of Jesus's life, including his own baptism, painted in the 15th century. [4/4]

⛪ In #Geroskipou, villagers joined a small procession in honour of John the Baptist, walking beneath an icon held aloft by the local priest. [3/4]

🇨🇾 In #Paphos, the local priest casted a cross into the Mediterranean Sea with a group of selected swimmers from the city diving in to retrieve in, symbolising Jesus's baptism. The winner is believed to receive good fortune for the new year. [2/4]

✨ It was an honour being able to witness the ancient #Cypriot Feast of #Theophany today, January 6! While Western traditions often celebrate the Magi's visit of Bethlehem, the #Eastern Church marks this day by commemorating the #baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. [1/4]

A fresco of people in a snowy landscape dressed in not very seasonally appropriate medieval costume engaged in a snowball fight

January (detail), Castello del Buonconsiglio (Trento, Italy), c. 1400

... the album depicts lavish banquets, triumphal carts, and dances that seem to flow seamlessly into one another. [7/7]

💃Most impressive is the "Brussels Album": exquisitely drawn scenes of the court festival Margaret staged in 1565 for the wedding of her son, Alessandro Farnese, in Brussels. On loan from the University of Warsaw Library and rarely shown to the public ... [6/7]

... tapestries, ivory fans, hunting gear, festive apparel, stained glass, musical instruments, ... All shown together for the first time in Oudenaarde, Margaret's hometown. [5/7]

🥇"Margaretha van Parma: keizersdochter tussen macht en imago" (@moumuseum).

Dedicated to Margaret of Parma (1522-1586), governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, this exhibition brings together an extraordinary range of objects from Margaret's learned court ... [4/7]

🥈"Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" (@chateauchantilly).

👉Truly rare opportunity to see this sumptuous 15th-century manuscript up close. Its 200 folios overflow with courtly and rural splendour from Burgundian times. [3/7]

🥉"Nieuw Parijs: van Monet tot Morisot" (Kunstmuseum, Den Haag).

👉 Beautifully curated display on late 19th-century urban planning in Paris. Seamlessly combining art and cultural history, it traces how Paris transformed from the medieval city into the modern capital we know today. [2/7]

🎇Just before 2025 draws to a close, I'll share my top 3 favourite art exhibitions of the past year, with a special focus on (early) modern France and the Low Countries! [1/7]

... the awe-inspiring Jesuit church from the early 17th century. Many thanks to Kunsthal Extra City and Handelsbeurs Antwerpen fro their generous cooperation! [5/5]

We visited two architectural gems of early modern #Antwerp: the Antwerp Stock Exchange, Joseph Schadde's 1872 eclectic reinterpretation of Domien de Waghemakere's exchange from 1531, and the St. Carolus Borromeuskerk Church ... [4/5]

... by the multi-media South-African artist Bianca #Baldi. In the afternoon students were instructed to make #reels for social media centred around questions of #curatorship in #architecture. [3/5]

Housed in a charming Dominican Church from the 1920s, we were warmly welcomed by the Kunsthal's director Anthony Hudek and curator Darly Benneker. Kunsthal Extra City has currently two lovely exhibitions on view, including the moving 𝘚𝘦𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 ... [2/5]

Why sit in a lecture hall when you can go on a field trip? Last week I visited #Antwerp with bright #art #history students in our master's programme! After a brief stop at Antwerp Central Station - the city's famous 'railway cathedral' - we visited Kunsthal Extra City. [1/5]

This Monday, 12-1pm, Sanne Frequin and I will discuss examples and practices of alternative assessment: from podcasts to film documentaries! The kickoff of the new Education series @humanitiesuu.bsky.social.

❓ Departmental Education Series: Alternative Assessment.
🏛️ Utrecht, KNG80, Ravensteynzaal.

Exciting news! Next August I'll deliver a keynote lecture at the conference 'Carousels and Other Colonial Spectacles: Performing Race and Racialization at European Courts, ca. 1500-1700' at Copenhagen University, alongside Noémie Ndiaye. Call for papers is open now lnkd.in/e2ad7u7H (deadline 15/12)!

Last Friday I organized the symposium 'Sports and Games in the Early Modern Period' @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social with @rozanneversendaal.bsky.social, Jeroen Salman, Dániel Forgács en Sointu Cantell. Great talks on tennis, lotteries, and video games. We even re-enacted an 18th-century lottery!

🗣️THIS MONDAY, 12noon-1pm, @humanitiesuu.bsky.social: enjoy free lunch while listening - or tuning in - to the GKG Seminar in the Tielezaal (UU University Library). I'll talk about my ongoing research on colonial performance in early modern Antwerp, Paris, and Amsterdam, including sugar sculptures.

🗣️THIS MONDAY, 12noon-1pm, @humanitiesuu.bsky.social: enjoy free lunch while listening - or tuning in - to the GKG Seminar in the Tielezaal (UU University Library). I'll talk about my ongoing research on colonial performance in early modern Antwerp, Paris, and Amsterdam, including sugar sculptures.