Every day, internal and external researchers and restorers examine works of art from various Musea Brugge collections. Below, you will find an overview of recent and current research projects.
In June 2024, the two-year project Apprentice-Master II was launched. With the support of the Flemish Government and in collaboration with strong national and international partners, Musea Brugge continues exploring the history of the Bruges Academy during the long 19th century. We are conducting research into the international journeys of artists who studied at the academy and aim to engage everyone in this process—including you!
In January 2021, a team from the University of Antwerp (the AXES and ARCHES research groups) conducted a series of new investigative tests in the Groeningemuseum on the painting 'Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele' by Jan van Eyck. The researchers made use of a new scientific technique that they had developed themselves: Macroscopic X-ray Powder Diffraction Scanning (MA-XRPD).
At the end of April 2019, Musea Brugge were able to add a stunning acquisition to their core collection of Flemish Primitives. The panel painting is now undergoing further examination in the run-up to ‘Jan van Eyck in Bruges’, a major exhibition in the Groeningemuseum in the spring of 2020.
Further to the much discussed restoration of the Lamb of God, thorough new research is being conducted on the other works of Jan van Eyck
Apart from traditional art history research, scientific research is also becoming increasingly important within a museum context. Infrared reflectography (IRR) is a technique which the Flemish Research Centre for the arts in the Burgundian Netherlands of Musea Brugge applies to paintings from various periods, including those of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Musea Brugge manages the most important collection of paintings by Hans Memling in the world. In collaboration with the Flemish Research Centre for the arts in the Burgundian Netherlands, systematic material and technical research is being carried out on the Bruges panel paintings by Memling.
In order to stand out in the revamped Gruuthusemuseum, this attractive collection of three sewn strips of golden leather has been repaired.
At the end of 2018, scholarly research and restoration started on The Death of the Virgin, one of the Flemish Top Items recognised by decree. It is a painting on panel by Hugo van der Goes (about 1440-1482). A team of expert restorers is working by commission of the non-profit agency vzw Kenniscentrum van Musea Brugge (Knowledge Centre of Musea Brugge) under the supervision of an international assistant commission.
Although nowadays we could describe this fine object as a jug with silver lid, it was probably originally a tankard.
This monumental full length painted portrait of Augustin van Outryve d’Ydewalle comes from the hand of Joseph-Benoit Suvée and is being restored in the restoration workshop of the Groeningemuseum. The Flemish Community has been able to acquire the portrait. The Flemish Council for Masterpieces (Topstukkenraad) has given a green light for the restoration to start.
Musea Brugge is pleased to announce the upcoming conference '(Re)searching connections', which will provide a forum for scholarly exchange about the international social networks of artists active in the period 1750–1914. The conference will be held in Rome, Italy, on 30 September and 1 October 2025.
Bruges hosts the international and interdisciplinary biennial ‘Symposium for the Study of Underdrawing and Technology in Painting’ on 28, 29 and 30 March 2022.
