Expensive and Avant Garde Jokes of Silver from the Dutch Republic

This lecture deals with the fascinating world of auricular (kwab) ornament where humour, craftsmanship, and elite culture collide. The unique silverworks, designed by the brothers Paulus and Adam van Vianen, blend bizarre shapes with playful and grotesque details that both amaze and amuse. Starting from their marvelous ewers, Stijn Bussels will also discuss paintings by masters as Jan Steen and Jan Both to make clear how in diverse media the imagination was sparked and that the boundaries of taste and decorum were challenged. Join us to uncover how humour played a key role in Dutch 17th-century elite life and why these masterpieces continue to intrigue and inspire today!

 About the speaker
Prof. Stijn Bussels, Head of the Department of Art History and Professor of Art History, especially before 1800, Leiden University