Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens are known primarily for their virtuosic large-scale paintings, but both were also highly skilled draughtsmen. This exhibition at the Ashmolean brings together 120 drawings by them and a host of other great Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, including Anthony van Dyck, Cornelis de Vos and Jacob Jordaens (23 March–23 June). The range of subject matter is huge: works on display include still lifes, anatomical studies, portraits, religious and classical scenes and city landscapes. Many are being loaned from the Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp; others come from the Ashmolean’s collection, from various galleries around Oxford or from private collectors. With around 30 of the works having never been on public display before, and several having been discovered only recently, the show presents an underexplored side of the Flemish masters. Find out more from the Ashmolean Museum’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
Study of a Young Girl Wearing a Cap (c. 1620–35), Cornelis de Vos. Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp
The Temptation of St Anthony (c. 1556), Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Study of a Dog (c. 1630/61), Joannes Fijt. Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp
The Abbot and Death (c. 1590), Peter Paul Rubens, after Hans Holbein. Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp
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