The Museum Catharijneconvent (St. Catherine's Convent Museum) is a museum of religious art in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It is located in the former St. Catharine convent, having been sited there since 1979. Its collections include many artifacts from the museum of religious art of the Catholic Archbishopric of Utrecht, located in the convent until 1979. In 2006 the convent closed for restoration. It is part of the Utrecht Museum Night.

Collection

The museum has an extensive collection of historical and art-historical objects from the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

to the present. The vast collection presents a picture of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

art and cultural history of the Netherlands, and its impact on Dutch society. The collection includes richly illustrated manuscripts, book-bindings decorated with precious stones, richly-worked images, paintings, altarpieces, pieces of clothing and ecclesiastical objects in gold and silver. Among the highlights in the collection are the 9th-century

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

of Saint Lebuinus and carved ivories from the Lebuïnuskerk in Deventer. Dutch painting of the 16th and 17th centuries is represented by a selection of works by

Jan van Scorel Jan van Scorel (1 August 1495 – 6 December 1562) was a Dutch painter, who played a leading role in introducing aspects of Italian Renaissance painting into Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting. He was one of the early painters of the Ro ...

and Pieter Saenredam, and more recent Dutch artworks by Jan Toorop,

Shinkichi Tajiri Shinkichi Tajiri (Los Angeles, December 7, 1923 – Baarlo, Netherlands, March 15, 2009) was an American sculptor who resided in the Netherlands from 1956 onwards. He was also active in painting, photography and cinematography. Childhood and ...

, Frans Franciscus,

Guido van der Werve Guido van der Werve (born 1977) is a Dutch filmmaker and visual artist. Personal details Van der Werve was born in Papendrecht, the Netherlands and currently lives and works in Finland and Berlin. He pursued studies in industrial design, archae ...

and .

External links

* {{Authority control Religious museums in the Netherlands Museums in Utrecht (city) Art museums and galleries in the Netherlands Museums established in 1979