Northern Gothic and Renaissance Art: a look into a bygone world

As of February 1, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is hosting the “Northern Gothic and Renaissance Art” exhibition, which features paintings, sculpture, and furniture from the 15th – 17th centuries from the collection of Mikhail Perchenko. “The reason I collect these things is to preserve in human memory the keys to understanding a world that is gone forever,” he says.

Part of the exhibition is comprised of the works of German artists, featuring images of kings and courtiers. Typically, these portraits were made in a few dozen copies and an entire workshop of painters created them together. Pictured: “Portrait of the Infanta” by Frans Pourbus the Younger.

Wooden sculptures were characteristic of Western European art of the Middle Ages. They were mostly images of saints that were placed on the altars of Gothic cathedrals in sculptural ensembles. Among the unique objects on exhibition is an altar made by the Antwerp masters and commissioned by the Hohenzollern family in 1505-1520.

The exhibition features wooden sculptures from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. Pictured: “The Bishop” (Austria).

Mikhail Perchenko has been assembling his unique collection for over thirty years. This is the first time in the history of the Museum that a private collection has been exhibited in the main hall. Pictured: Mikhail Perchenko at the opening of the exhibition “Northern Gothic and Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, and Artistic Furniture from the Collection of Mikhail Perchenko (Moscow)” in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.

Works of 16th-century Dutch Mannerism and carved furniture made of walnut and oak are an important part of the exhibition. Pictured: “Circumcision” (the Netherlands).

Mikhail Perchenko's private collection surpasses all other collections of Northern Gothic art in Russian museums. One can rarely see such painters as Peter Cook Van Aalst, Lucas Cranach, Jr., Frans Pourbus, Jean Bellgamb, and Joachim Patinir gathered in one room.

The exhibition “Northern Gothic and Renaissance Art” will be open until March 13.