7th Seminar Global Art History and Heritage: Emily Gordenker

Dr. Emilie Gordenker (Mauritshuis, The Hague): The Making of the Exhibition ‘Shifting Image. In Search of Johan Maurits’

The Mauritshuis was named after the man who had it built, Johan Maurits, Count of Nassau-Siegen (1604–1679). His house has been home to the Royal Cabinet of Paintings since 1822, now one of the most famous museums in the world. In terms of art history, the museum has always emphasised Johan Maurits’s importance to art, architecture and science, but his life story is also part of Dutch colonial history, particularly its role in the development of Brazil and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Emilie Gordenker will discuss the evolution of the exhibition at the Mauritshuis, and how it addresses the changing perception of Johan Maurits as well as its relation to current debates about societal issues.