This exhibition at the Bodleian’s Weston Library in Oxford (3 December–18 April 2022) looks at cultural connections between England and the Netherlands over the medieval and early modern periods. Manuscripts, maps, prints and other objects from the Bodleian collections demonstrate how the exchange of ideas between the two countries shaped their respective literatures; highlights include the ‘Hebban olla vogala’, the oldest surviving fragment of Dutch secular literature from the 11th century, and a 14th-century carved chest depicting a battle in Flanders – the same that inspired an early Middle English poem entitled The Flemish Insurrection. The show also looks at the often turbulent lives of Dutch migrant communities in Britain, and explores the shared literary heritage of the medieval trickster Reynard the Fox. Find out more from the Bodleian’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here
Woodcut from Elizabeth Allde’s edition of The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox (1629), with illustrations based on those of Wynkyn de Worde’s editions (1495 and 1515). Photo: © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Drawing of a siren and a Dutch sonnet, made in London in 1576 by the artist Lucas de Heere, from Emanuel van Meteren’s album amicorum. Photo: © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Illustration of the tournament organised by Edward III in honour of the countess of Salisbury, from a copy of Wavrin’s Croniques (15th century). Photo: © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Margaret of York, duchess of Burgundy, at prayer, from a compilation of French devotional texts (1475) commissioned by Margaret, written in Ghent by David Aubert and illuminated by the Master of Mary of Burgundy. Photo: © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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