Since Antiquity, beauty and ugliness have always fascinated people and raised many questions, as universal themes whose variations are determined by culture and era. How was the dichotomy between beauty and ugliness expressed by artists between the end of the 15th century and the 16th century, a period that would prove to be pivotal? Renaissance artists were the first to give them equal importance, and this interest grew throughout the 16th century.
The exhibition catalogue explores this trajectory, presenting beauty and ugliness in their most arresting forms. It adopts a comparative approach between the works of the Italian Renaissance and those of Northern Europe, particularly the Low Countries. This highlights the constants and variations in the history of forms and taste, through works by Sandro Botticelli, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Leonardo da Vinci, Frans Floris de Vriendt, Albrecht Dürer, Lorenzo Lotto, Quentin Metsys, Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese, among others. The masterpieces are richly illustrated and accompanied by extended descriptions and analysis.
Edited by Chiara Rabbi Bernard with texts by Cristina Acidini, Christophe Brouard, Elena Capretti, Maria Clelia Galassi, Yves Hersant, Koenraad Jonckheere, Catherine Lanoë, Pietro C. Marani and Giandomenico Spinola.
Published by Bozar Books & Mercatorfonds, 2026
Two separate versions in Dutch and French
Hardcover
288 pages
29 x 23 cm
Retail price: € 49
Available at the Bozar Bookshop by Walther König or distributed by www.mercatorfonds.be
