The purpose of this book is draw attention to little known or unknown Netherlandish paintings of the 16th century preserved in Slovak art collections. In the foreword the author gives an overview of the history of art collecting within present day Slovakia. The remarkable art collections of Prince Albert, Duke of Sachsen-Teschen, Count János Pálffy, Enea Grazioso Lanfranconi and Baron Raoul Kuffner, among others, are treated here in detail. The collection of 31 paintings is examined in the form of a scholaly catalogue. The author gives carefully formulated assessments about the provenance, iconography, attribution and the date of every work. Moreover, a useful survey of the opinions given in earlier publications, many of them inaccessible due to the language barrier, is included. The paintings by Colijn de Coter, Albrecht Bouts, Gillis Coignet and the fine paintings by Lucas, Marten, Frederik and Gillis Valckenborch for example, are comprehensively presented to the reader. Indubitably, art professionals will welcome the publication as a valuable reference handbook. The book will also be very useful to visitors to the Slovak galleries and museums.

Heda's Banquet Piece, Frans Hals' Willem Coymans, and Rembrandt's Lucretia. Paintings by these and other masters attracted the American collectors P. A. B. Widener, his son Joseph, and Andrew W. Mellon, whose bequests form the heart of the National Gallery's distinguished and remarkably cohesive collection of ninety-one Dutch paintings.

Publisher description

This publication is the Museum's descriptive catalogue of its 2,500 paintings, oil sketches, and finished pastels, each one illustrated and presented chronologically by national and regional school. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

This volume follows on from Pacht's work on the Van Eycks and their circle, to encompass the great artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Figures such as Van Der Weyden, Bouts, Christus, Van Der Goes and Memling, as well as lesser known artists, are examined in turn. With detailed discussion of particular paintings, style and symbolism.

Forty works by early Netherlandish masters from van Eyck to Bosch—reproduced in exquisite detail—are the subject of this breathtaking book that leads readers deep into the paintings to reveal each artist’s astonishing technique and brilliant application of color. The longer we gaze at the paintings of the old masters, the more we appreciate the subtlety and artistry of the painters who created them. This beautiful book offers readers an opportunity to learn and study the art of Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and many other masters of this period and region. It also explores their influence on later artists from the Baroque period. Each of the works is briefly presented along with its historical and contextual background and importance. Then in a series of full-page illustrations, specific details are enlarged to guide the reader carefully and thoughtfully through the piece’s nuances and often overlooked features. The result is the next best thing to a private viewing at a museum—a truly sensuous and emotional experience that will engage both the novice and the expert. Till-Holger Borchert’s texts are informative and engaging as he shares his singular passion for these great works in a magnificent book that will inspire viewers to form their own opinions and exercise their own powers of observation within the context of this important period in art history.