From Bruges to Antwerp · Detail, matter and movement

Flemish painting moves from the luminous precision of Van Eyck to the baroque energy of Rubens, while inventing visionary worlds with Bosch.

In the 15th century, Flemish primitives perfected oil painting and gave materials a new presence. Van Eyck makes mirror, glass, metal and fabric a language of precision in The Arnolfini Husbands. Rogier van der Weyden organizes the pain of the Descent from the Cross through gestures and bodies that respond to each other. Bosch deploys in The Garden of Delights a moral imagination populated by creatures, architecture and transformations. In the 17th century, Antwerp became the center of a European Baroque. In The Garden of Delights, a moral imagination populated by creatures, architecture and transformations. In the 17th century, Antwerp became the center of a European baroque. In The Garden of Delights, a moral imagination populated by creatures, architecture and transformations. In the 17th century, Antwerp became the center of a European baroque. In the 17th century, Antwerp became the center of a European baroque. In the 17th century, Antwerp became the center of a European baroque. In the 17th century, Antwerp became the center of a European baroque. Rubens enlarged the formats, accelerated the diagonals and gave bodies collective energy, while Van Dyck renewed or Teniers explore celebration, proverb and daily life. The selection "Flemish and Belgian paintings - Top 500 masterpieces" notably compares Les Époux Arnolfini - Jan van Eyck and La Descente de Croix - Rogier van der Weyden. Its reading favors the story.

Flemish tradition unites two rarely separated qualities: microscopic attention to detail and the ability to embrace immense compositions.