Het Zotte Kunstkabinet

About the museum

Museum Het Zotte Kunstkabinet is housed in 't Vliegend Peert, a historic building on the Sint-Katelijnestraat in Mechelen. The foundations point to an earlier building around 1350; the present interior dates from between 1480 and 1580, and the rococo façade from 1772. Inside, original sixteenth-century elements can still be seen, such as a Gothic chimneypiece and a Renaissance room with a remarkable ceiling. In the sixteenth century artists lived here, among them Mayken Verhulst, mother-in-law and mentor of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The museum is built around a permanent collection with long-term loans of sixteenth-century paintings. Its name refers to the theme: satirical-moralising scenes, which at the time were also called “zot” (foolish). Jheronimus Bosch was one of the first to use this visual language, which was later taken over by painters such as Bruegel and Brouwer. The museum shows that these painters could derive their visual language from Middle Dutch literature and from texts of the rhetoricians' chambers.

Behind the museum stands the Centrum voor Oude Kunst 't Vliegend Peert, a research institute that studies painting in the Southern Netherlands between 1500 and 1650, with particular emphasis on this foolish theme. The results of this research are presented to the public in exhibitions, such as De Zotte Schilders (2003) and Mayken Verhulst (2005), with accompanying publications.

Highlights

• Satirical-moralising paintings from the circle of Jheronimus Bosch
• Works by, among others, Frans and Jan Verbeeck, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Massys
• Historic building 't Vliegend Peert with a sixteenth-century Renaissance room
• Home of Mayken Verhulst, mentor of Pieter Bruegel the Elder
• Guided tours available in Dutch, French, English and German

Permanent exhibition

• Het Zotte Kunstkabinet – A permanent collection with long-term loans of sixteenth-century paintings on satirical-moralising themes, shown in the historic rooms of 't Vliegend Peert.

Operated by

Museum Het Zotte Kunstkabinet vzw

Admission & discounts

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Getting there & parking

The building is on the Sint-Katelijnestraat, close to the Sint-Romboutstoren.

Amenities & dining

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