IN SEARCH OF ART AND SCIENCE IN THE ERA OF

Jan Van der Stock IN SEARCH OF UTOPIA ART AND SCIENCE IN THE ERA OF THOMAS MORE

Jan Van der Stock

f o r v e r o n i q u e vandekerchove (1 9 6 5 – 2 0 1 2) Chief Curator of M-Museum and initiator of this exhibition

f o r j a n r o e g i e r s (1944–2013) Emeritus Professor of History at the KU Leuven and a source of inspiration for this exhibition Contents

Catalogue

AUTHORS UTOPIA OF THOMAS MORE (1516) A Golden Book from Leuven Conquers the World

[CVD] Chet Van Duzer 9 Foreword 73 Utopia the Book, in Leuven and the Low Countries [CK] Cecile Kruyfhooft JAN PAPY [DVH] Daan van Heesch 13 In Search of Utopia – The Exhibition [EDP] Els De Palmenaer JAN VAN DER STOCK 74 cat. 1–8 [EM] Elizabeth Morrison [EV] Emmanuelle Vagnon 21 Europe-America-Utopia: Visions of an Ideal World 103 Editions and Translations of Utopia 1516 –1750 [HI] Hannah Iterbeke in the Sixteenth Century MARCUS DE SCHEPPER [JH] Jan Herman HANS COOLS [JL] Jeroen Luyckx 104 cat. 9–2 [JLB] Jens Ludwig Burk 31 Thomas More, Utopia and Leuven: [JP] Jan Papy Tracing the Intellectual and Cultural Context 129 Utopia and European Humanism [JS] Jochen Sander JAN PAPY JAN PAPY [JVG] Joris Van Grieken [KB] Koenraad Brosens 41 Erotic Utopia: the ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ 130 cat. 13a–19 [KS] Katharina Smeyers in Context [KVC] Koenraad Van Cleempoel PAUL VANDENBROECK [LC] Lorne Campbell [LMM] Linda M. Müller 49 The Enclosed Garden: a Utopian and Mystical Sanctuary [LW] Lieve Watteeuw BARBARA BAERT [MAC] Miguel Ayres de Campos [MB] Maarten Bassens 55 Beyond the Horizon: Terra Incognita [MDS] Marcus de Schepper EMMANUELLE VAGNON [MF] Malve Anna Falk [MU] Matthias Ubl 63 The Ultimate Utopia: a Universe in the Hand [PVDB] Paul Vandenbroeck KOENRAAD VAN CLEEMPOEL [RJ] Robrecht Janssen [SH] Stephanie Heremans [SMK] Scot McKendrick [SVDE] Stéphanie Van den Eynde [WW] Wendy Wauters BEYOND UTOPIA BEYOND THE HORIZON HOLDING THE UNIVERSE Images of Paradise and Hell Imaging the Unknown Dreaming of Space and Time

162 cat. 20–25 261 Terra Incognita 331 In Search of Utopian Perfection: 408 Bibliography EMMANUELLE VAGNON Builders of Scientific Instruments 187 The Garden of Eden – The Earthly Paradise – the ‘Leuven School’ 424 Index WENDY WAUTERS 262 cat. 42–58 KOENRAAD VAN CLEEMPOEL 426 Lenders to the Exhibition 188 cat. 26–31 332 cat. 59–72 427 Photo Credits 213 The Conservation of Enclosed Gardens from Mechelen 385 Eternity: Imaging Time A Closer Look at Fragile Mixed Media JULIE BECKERS 428 Colophon

LIEVE WATTEEUW 386 cat. 73–77 214 cat. 32–35

233 Dystopia DAAN VAN HEESCH

234 cat. 36–41 Foreword

On 20 October 2016, the In Search of Utopia exhibition opens in M-Museum Leuven. It brings together an extraordinary number of exceptional works of art, most of them by masters who were active in Flanders and Brabant in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. For both the City of Leuven and University of Leuven the exhibition commemorates the fact that December 2016 is the 500th anniversary of the publication of Utopia, written by the English humanist and statesman Thomas More. Dirk Martens, the master printer from Aalst and Antwerp who, at the time, had a printing press in the centre of Leuven, printed the book and marketed it. The renowned humanist Desiderius came up with the title and acted as intermediary between his good friends More and Martens. In his soon-to-be-famous book More brilliantly analysed the lamentable social and economic conditions prevailing in England at that time before describing a ‘utopian’ alternative that was to be found on an island where everything was ‘perfectly’ regulated. Utopia was not intended as a viable political programme; it was an intellectual exercise – one, moreover, that touched on many subjects that are still highly topical today. The celebration of 500 Years of Utopia also sees the launch of a citywide project in which a range of themes are explored from both international and local perspectives. Preparations for the ambitious exhibition project began in 2009 under the inspira- tional leadership of Professor Jan Van der Stock and the late Veronique Vandekerchove (1965–2012). They were joined by Lien De Keukelaere, Annelies Vogels, Hanna van Zutphen, Professor Barbara Baert and Professor Lieve Watteeuw. Together they coaxed loans from national and international lenders, mobilized funders and sponsors, and enthused a team of highly motivated colleagues and associates. The exhibition was of course preceded by considerable academic research. This was carried out under the aegis of Illuminare – Centre for the Study of Medieval Art (KU Leuven) and focused on the works of art that would come to Leuven. The extensive examination of Mechelen’s Besloten Hofjes, the systematic study of compositions from the tradition of Hieronymus Bosch, the analysis and conservation of the unique, large-scale city portrait of Leuven and various other objects, are the subjects of doctoral dissertations,

8 9 FOREWORD master’s theses and bachelor’s papers. The results are published in the present exhibition catalogue and will be presented to the international academic community at the Imaging Utopia: New Perspectives on Northern Renaissance Art symposium. The aim of the exhibition is to make recent academic and scientific research accessible to the general public and at the same time to highlight Leuven as a dynamic and vibrant city. The organization of In Search of Utopia is in the joint hands of ku[n]st Leuven vzw, in which the City of Leuven and the University of Leuven collaborate, and the museum team of M-Museum Leuven. We thank everyone who has contributed to making the complex organization of the exhibition a success.

LOUIS TOBBACK Mayor of the City of Leuven

RIK TORFS Rector of KU Leuven

KATLIJN MALFLIET Vice-rector of Culture, KU Leuven

Co-chair ku[n]s t Leuven vzw

DENISE VANDEVOORT Alderman for Culture of the City of Leuven Chair of M-Museum, Leuven

Co-chair of ku[n]s t Leuven vzw

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