Simiolus. Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art
Volume 45, number 3/4

The latest issue of Simiolus has appeared. It presents the debut of Philip Muijtjens, the laureate of our 2024 Haboldt-Mutters Prize for young art historians, revealing a previously unknown source on Rogier van der Weyden’s famous yet enigmatic Justice panels in Brussels. Incredible but true, it also welcomes the very first contribution to Simiolus by Bernhard Ridderbos, an absolute authority on early Netherlandish painting, who addresses fundamental questions regarding Hugo van der Goes’s oeuvre in response to the recent exhibition in Berlin. Victor Schmidt corrects a long-standing misidentification in a Lucas van Leyden print, Elizabeth Mattison presents an unknown inventory of the Liège Prince-Bishop Érard de la Marck’s silver collection, and Lara Yeager-Crasselt and Suzanne Baverez elucidate Bentveughel Simon Ardé’s career in Rome. Finally, Tessel Bauduin reflects on the particular position of Surrealism in the Netherlands – a contribution that neatly coincides with the movement’s centenary, as well as with our desire to publish more essays on nineteenth- and twentieth-century art.

Finally, this issue sees the reintroduction of what used to be one of Simiolus’s characteristic features: the critical review. Resisting a seemingly ubiquitous trend towards what French art historian Jean-Marie Guillouët in a recent lecture aptly referred to as “the gradual neutralisation of the critical review”, Simiolus continues to take up the task of scrutinising important new publications, not merely and dutifully summarising them, but placing them in their historiographical context and carefully weighing their claims. Thus, Jean Michel Massing reviews Paul Holberton’s monumental book on Arcadia, while both Frans Grijzenhout and Frances Suzman Jowell comment critically on the Rijksmuseum’s otherwise unanimously lauded 2023 Vermeer exhibition.

Contents:

Peter Hecht, ‘Michael Hoyle (1943-2024)’
Philip Muijtjens, ‘The Justice Panels by Rogier van der Weyden: A New Source on Their International Fame’
Bernhard Ridderbos, ‘Hugo van der Goes: Questions About His Artistic Development’
Victor M. Schmidt, ‘The Long Shadow of Adam Bartsch: Lucas van Leyden’s Engraving B. 119’
Elizabeth Rice Mattison, ‘A Bishop Among Princes: Social Networks and Érard de la Marck’s Collection of Gold and Silver’
Suzanne Baverez and Lara Yeager-Crasselt, ‘The Bentveughels and a Brussels Network: Rediscovering the Life of Simon Ardé (c. 1596-1638)’
Tessel M. Bauduin, ‘Little-Known but Persistent: Surrealism in the Netherlands’

Book reviews:
Jean Michel Massing, review of Paul Hoberton, A History of Arcadia in Art and Literature: The Quest for Secular Human Happines Revealed in the Pastoral
Frans Grijzenhout, review of Pieter Roelofs and Gregor J.M. Weber (eds.), exh. cat. Vermeer & Gregor J.M. Weber, Johannes Vermeer: Faith Light and Reflection
Frances Suzman Jowell, ‘Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum 2023: Thoré-Bürger Airbrushed Out’

Subscriptions cost € 60 a year for individuals and € 100 a year for institutions. A reduced rate of € 30 is available for students. If you wish to subscribe please send an e-mail with your personal details to infosimiolus.nl.

https://simiolus.nl/
https://www.instagram.com/simiolus/