Van Dyck's European genius 'returns' to Genoa

Among the best-known Flemish masters - although known more for his portraits than for his sacred works of art - the artistic career of Antoon Van Dyck (1599-1641) traversed the history of 17th century Europe along the lines of three major cities: Antwerp, Genoa and London. In Flanders, he grew up at the school of Rubens, stayed in Italia and perfected his talent, before arriving as the first painter at the court of Charles I of England.

It is precisely by ideally retracing these steps of his that the exhibition Van Dyck L'Europeo (Van Dyck the European) is being organised today - through ten thematic sections and about sixty works on loan from the most prestigious European museums. Il viaggio di un genio da Anversa a Genova e Londra (The journey of a genius from Antwerp to Genoa and London) with which the artist "returns to Genoa" with masterpieces created in the city: from the imposing Portrait of a Lady from the Odescalchi Collection, to the monumental Alter Altarpiece of San Michele di Pagana, passing through one of the most special loans, the concession from the National Gallery in London of the Portrait of Alessandro, Vincenzo and Francesco Maria Giustiniani Longo (only recently identified), painted in Genoa in 1626/1627 and now back here after 400 years.

At the heart of the exhibition at the Doge's Palace is the artist's poetics, explored according to a not strictly chronological itinerary that seeks a comparison between similar subjects - for example a Genoese, English and Flemish lady - reflecting different times, but also commissions with different sensibilities. It is an opportunity to visit portraits of great value, such as the Equestrian Portrait of Charles V from the Uffizi in Florence, the Portrait of the Palatine Princes from the Louvre in Paris, The Four Ages of Man from the Museo Civico di Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza and the Study for the Figure of Saint Jerome from the Phoebus Foundation in Antwerp. And at the same time the opportunity to tackle a lesser-known theme of the author such as sacred art, bringing together for the first time in Italia so many works with a religious subject, such as the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine or The Capture of Christ from the Prado in Madrid, St. Sebastian from the National Galleries in Edinburgh, Manson and Delilah from the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Curators of the exhibition are Flemish painting expert Anna Orlando and Belgian art historian Katlijne Van der Stighelen, who together with a prestigious international scientific committee have - more than twenty years after the catalogue raisonné of 2004 - produced two voluminous publications, one in Italian with the publisher Allemandi and one in English with the Belgian publisher Hannibal Books. After the international exhibitions of recent decades, which have focused on specific chapters of Van Dyck's artistic production - such as the English period at the Tate Britain in London in 2009, or the youthful period at the Prado in Madrid in 2012 - the aim is to offer a broad retrospective on the painter's entire career, not only aimed at specialists and art historians, but also at a much wider public, proposing in the light of new studies a revisitation of the Belgian artist's stay in Italy when he was 20 years old.

Van Dick the European. The journey of a genius from Antwerp to Genoa and London. Curated by Anna Orlando and Katlijne Van der Stighelen. Genoa, Palazzo Ducale, until 19 July 2026.