During Open Monuments Day 2020 you can visit the 15th century wall painting in Kunsthal Gent’s Oud Huis (“Old House”). It is also the final day of the wall tapestries made by Les Monseigneurs in the exhibition Gilding the Lily.
15th century wall painting
To everyone’s surprise, when a wall in the Oud Huis was dismantled during the renovation in the 1990’s, not one but two murals were found under the wallpaper. The first and most recent work found was a large 19th-century neo-Renaissance style mural. Underneath this mural an older mural was found. This is a very damaged Calvary group from the 15th century with Christ on the cross, flanked by Mary and the apostle John. The painting was crafted by an unknown master and has been violently treated with an axe or chopping knife. Awaiting further renovation, the wall in the Old House, with its various layers of wall paintings and wallpaper, shows the traces of history from the 15th century to the present day. The mural is a complex work of art that in its very own way fits in with the exhibitions in Kunsthal Gent.
Les Monseigneurs — Gilding The Lily — final day!
The Oud Huis offers a refuge to a triptych of wall tapestries by Ghent artist Les Monseigneurs. The work was especially made for the Basilica di San Celso in Milan, on the occasion of the annual design fair Salone del Mobile 2020, but could not be shown there as a consequence of Covid-19. The three impressive tapestries will now be on display in the Oud Huis during the summer months.
1.70 m x 3.5 m (each piece) cotton, paper, linen.
Woven in collaboration with TextielMuseum Tilburg.