The exhibition Verso shows what is hidden on the backside of paintings and painted (religious) works from the 14th to 18th centuries. One should be aware that these works of art were not displayed in museums but in their spiritual or secular context. Their meaning and symbolism were clear for contemporaries.
This context is missing in museums, and today, the meaning of symbolism and visualisation is mostly unknown. The back, ‘verso,’ often offers relevant information; sometimes, it is even a work of art. That is what makes this original exhibition so interesting and engaging.
Thirty-six works of art from the museum’s collection are displayed in a specially designed arrangement that allows visitors to see both sides of the paintings.
Hans Holbein the Younger, 1516, Jacob Meyer zum Hasen (mayor of Basel) and his wife Dorothea Kannengieser ‘recto’ with ‘verso’ the family heraldry, 1520.
The exhibition provides a historical, social, religious and dynastic context only museum staff and other insiders can usually access. The exhibition thus opens up new perspectives of even well-known works of art (among others by Hans Baldung, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein the Younger, Ambrosius Holbein and Konrad Witz.
Unknown artist, 16 century. Image of David Joris alias Johann von Brügge (1501-1556) around 1544. Inscription in Latin and German applied in 1559. Kunstmuseum Basel, Amerbach-Kabinett
The exhibition shows different facets with ‘verso’ images in eight sections and offers a wealth of observations on motifs and, for example, reused material.
For example, in 1517, Niklaus Manuel (called Deutsch) created a trompe l’oeil (a ‘deception of the eye’). This thin panel resembles a chiaroscuro drawing on coloured paper, a characteristic format of the period. Just as graphic artists often use both sides of a paper, the painter produced a second work on the verso that is even more spectacular than the recto.
Niklaus Manuel, 1517, Bathsheba bathing (recto); the death as warrior holds a young woman (verso). Kunstmuseum Basel, Amerbach-Kabinett. Photo : Martin P. Bühler
Images of the exhibition
Master of Sierentz, St. George and the dragon, around 1445, ‘verso’ the mourning of Christ, right-wing of a retable. Kunstmuseum Basel, Amerbach-Kabinett. Photo Martin P. Bühler