Tag Netherlands

The Emperor and His Family

Geoffrey Parker— In 1855 the French historian Jules Michelet hailed Archduchess Margaret of Austria as ‘The real “strong man” of the family’ whose efforts, above those of all others, ‘made the House of Austria great’. Rather like the eulogy of Henri Pirenne, this is an exaggeration: although the archduchess proved

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Prayers and Portraits

“Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych” is now on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The show highlights 40 diptychs, paintings on two hinged panels that can be opened and closed like a book, by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden,

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