|
1 Introduction |
| In the second half of the 14th century, an artist family was working in Nijmegen, of whom four descendants would achieve everlasting fame. We call this family Maelwael-Van Limburg: the famous descendants are called Jan Maelwael, Paul van Limburg, Herman van Limburg and Jan van Limburg. Never heard of them? That's not so strange. By a concurrence of circumstances, these men from Nijmegen ánd their oeuvre have become known under different names. In literature or on the internet, you will have to search in five different spellings for each of the four names. And to increase the difficulty: a large part of their work has become known under the name of their princely patron, Jean de France, Duc de Berry. The Nijmegen artists themselves have remained virtually anonymous because of this confusion, but, on the other hand, their work is world-famous: no medieval painters are 'reproduced' so much in our time as the Van Limburg Brothers, the forgotten Great Men from Nijmegen. For several reasons, the cultural trendsetters in Nijmegen have never really introduced the family Maelwael-Van Limburg to their fellow townsmen, and in Nijmegen hardly anything has been done with their fascinating legacy so far. Missed opportunities, because the Maelwael-Van Limburgs are by far the most important artists that Nijmegen has ever produced. Moreover, their work is very attractive to a wide audience. It is time to clearly link the three generations Maelwael-Van Limburg, their oeuvre and their town. This special is meant as an (re)introduction to Jan Maelwael and the Van Limburg Brothers in Nijmegen, the town where they were born, where they learned their trade and where they lived for half their lives. |