Never before have so many rare and fragile items been displayed to the public at the same time as in the new exhibition in De Lakenhal. It’s as if you could pick up the Special Collections, shake them and place the most beautiful objects that fall out in the display cases. Jef Schaeps, the Special Collection’s curator of prints and drawings, explains: "The curators of our sub-collections were allowed to make suggestions about what they really want to show people." And that is why the Aratea, a very rare codex dating from around 840 containing classical learning on astrological figures, is placed next to a copy of the Biblia Polyglotta, a Bible printed in four languages by the renowned printing firm Plantijn in Antwerp. This "King’s Bible" was commissioned by Philips the Second (of Spain); a striking detail is that the copy owned by the University Library was donated by Philips’ enemy, William of Orange, in 1575
The series created by Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf on the Relief of Leiden in 2011 is only twenty metres away from the oldest printed book owned by the university, De officiis by Cicero, printed in 1465. Won’t visitors be overwhelmed?
"We have juxtaposed the diversity of the objects", says Christiaan Vogelaar, De Lakenhal’s curator of ancient art. "Striking a balance between religious and earthly works, art and science, unusual shapes or contents. That’s why you’ll see cartography, scientific drawings and old books alongside prints and photographs."
The exhibition is constructed on three pillars: the West, the East and the Arts. Schaeps adds:
"Much of our collection comes from donations from scientists. Through the ages, they have always been interested in both Western and Oriental traditions and the collection of art grew substantially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."
Museum De Lakenhal - 9 March to 30 June 2013, € 7.50