Zeeland enjoyed its Golden Age between 1500 and 1650. In the early sixtheenth century Philip of Burgundy (1464-1524) settled at Castle Souburg where he established a Renaissance court after the Italian model. The prestige of court was mirrored in the simultaneous growth and power of the cities which played an important role in the battle against the Spanish armies during the Revolt. Following the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, Flemish artists and craftsmen fled to Zeeland's capital Middelburg, which witnessed two large expansions around 1600. The new affluence stimulated an enormous demand for art objects and luxury items. Middelburg alone was home to a great number of silversmiths, weavers, glazers and painters. Over the centuries Zeeland's rich artistic heritage has disappeared from the province. Through bequests, donations and sales many of the region's masterpieces and art objects ended up elsewhere. Thus the heritage of Zeeland's Golden Age has been spread across the globe. The Zeeuws Museum has brought back home an exclusive selection of masterpieces from this era. In this publication, art historian Katie Heyning reconstructs an exciting picture of Zeeland's embarrassment of riches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and ist subsequent dispersal.
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