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Toespraak van Zijne Majesteit de Koning - Opening Bruegel exhibition

1 oktober 2018

Speech by His Majesty the King of the Belgians

at the opening of the Bruegel exhibition
in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, 1 October 2018.

Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be with you today in this beautiful museum, which in itself symbolizes the strong ties between Austria and Belgium. Belgians feel at home here, surrounded by so many works of art from our region. Works that were made during a period when the Duchy of Brabant was ruled by Emperor Charles and his successors.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder, who died in Brussels in 1569 - almost 450 years ago - depicted his era just as it was. His main interest was the way of life of ordinary people and the rural world. With careful attention to detail, compassion and a lot of humour, he portrays the beautiful as well as the baser sides of mankind. His pictures show fascinating natural landscapes, village scenes, the emerging urban society and peasant weddings.

Brueghel also succeeded strikingly in expressing what went on in the minds of his contemporaries. He adds colour and imagery to profound folk wisdom. He shows us the hard lives people led, but he shows their celebrations too. Besides the cold reality of the sixteenth century, there is always the impression of a zest for life and entrepreneurship. His unique talent to generate admiration and wonder shows the people as they really were. Unlike many Renaissance painters, he does not idealize beauty. From his viewpoint, ordinary life as such is wonderful. This is an important message for today.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Art and culture unite. Today they bring our two countries together. They show us a piece of our common past. They also bring us closer to the generations that preceded us. They connect us with our contemporaries. For art and culture appeal to our imagination and invite us to look at things differently, to integrate other perspectives into our judgment, and to build bridges. In times of threatening indifference, art and culture can teach us to wonder, help us to understand others better and to bring people and communities closer together. That is something we must all work hard to achieve.

Mr President,

Many thanks, again, for your warm welcome today. I also want to express my gratitude to the organizers of this wonderful exhibition. It has taken a lot of courage and an equal amount of vision to put it on. I wish them every success. The 450th anniversary of Brueghel will be celebrated in Belgium, too. I therefore invite you all very warmly to visit our Brueghel year in 2019.

Ladies and gentlemen,  I now declare this exhibition open.