BOURG-EN-BRESSE.- The royal monastery of Brou is organizing an exhibition that explores, for the first time, the way in which the sovereigns of the former Burgundian Netherlands were represented in the art of the 19th century, at a time when the young European nations were building their history.

The title of this exhibition almost sounds like that of a melodramatic TV series, "The Bold and the Beautiful", in French "Amour, gloire et beauté". And for good reason, the history and life of the sovereigns of the 15th and 16th centuries have all the makings of a soap opera of family rivalries, sentimental stories, power struggles, marriages and even assassinations.

The monastery of Brou has chosen to relate the moments of this period through an exhibition which gathers about forty works of "troubadour" style. This artistic movement, prefiguring Romanticism, was born during the first half of the 19th century. Many artists such as Eugène Delacroix, Sophie Rude... but also writers like Walter Scott or Victor Hugo were interested in subjects of medieval history. But very often, they have idealized them by privileging the anecdote and the picturesque.

For the sake of clarity, the visit of the exhibition follows the chronology, focusing on the great characters and the twists and turns of their stories. Among them, Marguerite of Austria, daughter of Maximilian of Habsburg and Mary of Burgundy, the origin of the construction of the monastery of Brou (1506-1532). If she occupies a place of the first order, the parcours of the exhibition starts with the reign of Philip the Bold (in the second half of the 14th century), duke of Burgundy, who laid the foundations of the Burgundian Netherlands and whose possessions stretched then from Dijon to Amsterdam. Its successors, John the Fearless, Philippe the Good and Charles the Bold, will also be the object of numerous artistic representations. We therefore understand that this period is marked by endless conflicts between the French, the Burgundians and the Habsburgs.

It is finally by the marriage of Marie of Burgundy with Maximilian of Habsburg (in 1477) that the Burgundian Netherlands will pass to the house of Austria.

The stories of love, war and beauty take the visitor to the arrival in power of Charles V, then the most powerful of the European sovereigns and great rival of Francis I.

Unpublished in its form and its purpose, this exhibition offers an artistic reading of a littleknown time in European history, revisited by the artists of the 19th century nearly 300 years later.

Around the exhibition, the royal monastery of Brou offers a dedicated cultural program for all audiences: guided tours, a series of lectures, art workshops, family events, lectures and film screenings…

This exhibition was co-produced by the royal monastery of Brou and the Hof van Busleyden of Malines, as well as the City of Bourg-en-Bresse and the Centre des monuments who manage, preserve and promote the royal monastery of Brou and bring it to life.