Truly Bright and Memorable: Jan de Beer’s Renaissance Altarpieces

Barber Institute of Fine Arts

25 October 2019 – 19 January 2020

Famed in his lifetime and for several generations after his death for his stylish and elegant paintings, Antwerp’s Jan de Beer (c. 1475 – 1527/28) created dazzling altarpieces that appealed to churches at home and abroad, copyists, patrons and collectors.

However, his star subsequently waned until the early 20th century, when experts and connoisseurs began to re-evaluate his significance. De Beer’s known oeuvre now comprises about 40 works, principally devotional paintings and triptychs, but also drawings and a stained-glass window.

Jan de Beer  (1475–1528)
Title	Annunciation
Date	between circa 1510 and circa 1530
Medium	oil on panel
Dimensions	Height: 90 cm (35.4 ″); Width: 130 cm (51.1 ″)
Collection	Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

This exhibition – the latest in the Barber’s ‘Masterpiece in Focus’ series – focuses on

 

the Barber’s own double-sided altarpiece featuring The Nativity 

 

and the Apocryphal tale of Joseph and the Suitors, and brings together for the first time all his paintings and drawings from public and private collections in Britain.

Jan de Beer, Adoration of the Magi, c1515 © Private collection:

Jan de Beer, Adoration of the Magi, c1515 © Private collection

Image credit: Jan de Beer and assistant, ‘Adoration of the Magi’, c. 1515 © Private collection