Description

Paperback with flaps, Dimensions 265 x 215 mm, Pages 64, Language(s) Text English. ISBN 9789464781052. The Wiertz Museum is located in the heart of Brussels' Leopold district, in the shadow of the European Parliament. Built between 1851 and 1861 thanks to subsidies from the Belgian government and retaining much of its nineteenth-century charm, the museum houses the work of Antoine Wiertz (1806-1865). Wiertz lived and worked there: so the building was originally a residence, with a huge studio and a beautiful garden. He viewed it as a haven where artists could create and re-energize, but above all as a place where he could display the glory of his grand oeuvre. Wiertz believed in the importance of a universal art with moral, social and patriotic aspirations. More than that, he dreamed of emulating Rubens or even ?beating? Raphael. This boundless ambition led him to produce a great deal of work, ranging from monumental, sometimes intimidating canvases, to small, delicate oil sketches: a vast body of work that will leave no visitor indifferent