Beauty and Ugliness in the Renaissance

20 Feb. →
14 June'26

The Ideal, the Real and the Grotesque

Beauty and Ugliness are themes that resonate and fascinate in every era – universal concepts, yet their forms and tastes can culturally vary over time. How did the Renaissance thinkers conceive of these ideas? Art, through the power of the image, is the best way to discover them.

The exhibition’s approach is unprecedented: it traces how the standards of Beauty and Ugliness evolved from the last quarter of the 15th century to the end of the 16th century—key transitional periods—by juxtaposing in a rich and compelling confrontation the ways in which these two subjects were interpreted by the greatest Italian artists and their counterparts from Northern Europe.

We also discover that Beauty became an increasingly important social topic during this time, as evidenced by the growing number of publications throughout the 16th century offering “recipes for looking beautiful,” dedicated to cosmetics and beauty care. At the same time, Ugliness, during the same period (but especially throughout the 16th century), gained more prominence in numerous and varied forms.

 

Practical information

Location

BOZAR/Centre for Fine Arts

Ravensteinstraat 23 1000 BRUSSELS

Rates

MyBozar Card

14

<26 MyBozar Card

9

** Vip Bozar

0

** Vip / Coprod.

0

** Patrons

0

** Press

0

** Artist

0

** Sponsor

0

** Concours

0

** Vip/ BNO

0

Vip Klara

0

** Servitude

0

** Protocol

0

** Déplacement | Verplaatsing

0

** Direction

0

** Réserve

0

Standard

18

< 26 year

13

< 18 year

0

>65 year

16

Article 27

1.25

Paspartoe

2

Card : Preferential Reimbursement / EU Disability

9

Accessibility | Wheelchair & Blind

0

Accessibility | Companion wheelchair & Blind

0

museumPASSmusées

2

ICOM

0

Carte press / Perskaarten : VVJ, AJP, IFJ, API-IPA, AICA

0

Brussels Card

0

Bozar membres Patrons

0

Bozar Lifetime Memberschip Card

0

Bozar Conseil d'Administration | Raad van Bestuur

0

Code 100%

0

Staff Bozar | Max. 2

13

Red. 100%

0

Red. 70%~

5

Red. 60%

7

Red. 50%

9

Red. 40% ~

11

Red. 30%

13

Red. 25% ~

14

Red. 20% ~

14

Red. 15% ~

15

Red. 10%~

16

Red. -10€ ~

8

Red. -2 € ~

16

1+1 Free

9

2+1 Free

12

Red. 2+2 Free

9

Partners

  • Intesa Sanpaolo