Van Dyck im Focus

In 1999, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the birth of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, a grand memorial exhibition was mounted in Antwerp and London. Van Dyck was born in Antwerp on March 22, 1599; in London he held the position of "principalle Paynter in ordinary to her Majesties" at the court of King Charles I.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum was a prominent participant in this exhibition through the lending of five major works. With some 30 of the painters works, Vienna is among the most richly endowed "Van Dyck cities" in the world, behind London, Paris, Madrid and roughly equal with Munich. In the course of planning the exhibition, the museum decided to undertake conservation and restoration work on four of the masters paintings: "The Mystical Betrothal of the Blessed Hermann Joseph", "Samson and Delilah", the portrait of "Prince Ruprecht of the Palatinate" (?) as well as the "Portrait of an Elderly Woman".

Now that the paintings have returned to Vienna, the results of this work and scientific analysis can be presented, including insights into painting techniques and art history and that were gained through the intensive occupation of all those concerned with one of the greatest painters of the Baroque period.

With Van Dyck the KHM continues a series that began with Arcimboldo in 1996/97 in the exhibition of "Restored Paintings" and continued with Van den Hoecke. The series will continue, presenting in the picture gallery interesting discoveries made during restoration work. The presentation is dedicated to the gallerys recently retired head restorer, Hubert Dietrich, Professor Emeritus of the University for Applied Art in Vienna, by his former students in the restoration workshop and by the management of the picture gallery.