The Gemäldegalerie of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna possesses one of the most important collections of old masters in the world. These great works of art were gradually collected through the centuries by the archdukes of Austria and the later emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the marriage in 1477 between Mary of Burgundy and Maximilian of Austria, there were close links between the ruling house of Habsburg and the Low Countries, a situation which continued until the end of the Ancien Regime in 1789. In a series of essays by leading scholars, this book explores the history of the collection and the emergence of the various pictorial genres. The exceptionally early development of history, portrait, landscape and genre painting in the Low Countries laid the foundations for the unprecedented flowering of both Flemish and Dutch painting in the 17th century. Vienna has agreed to lend an outstanding selection of 54 top works, all dating from the 15th and 16th centuries and all originating from the Southern Netherlands. For a period of three months (from October 5th 2011 until January 15th 2012) paintings by Jan van Eyck, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling, Gerard David, Michiel Sittow, Juan de Flandes, Jan Gossaert, Joos van Cleve, Joachim Patinir, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and other masters will supplement the already impressive collection of the Groeninge Museum in Bruges. This is the official catalogue of the event. ILLUSTRATIONS: 150 colour illustrations
