XXL Paper – big, bigger, biggest!
Rijksmuseum presents the largest works on paper from its own collection
Publication date: 07 April 2022 - 12:00
A hand-painted cyclorama no fewer than 23 metres long, a 16-metre print from 1651 depicting the funeral procession of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and design drawings for the 12-metre-tall stained glass windows of XXL Paper – big, bigger, biggest! The St Bavokerk in Haarlem: these are just some of the largest works on paper from the collection of the Rijksmuseum. Their very size means they are rarely if ever exhibited. These and many other large works on paper feature in the XXL Paper exhibition running from 1 July to 4 September 2022.
The XXL Paper exhibition presents many artworks that, due to their size and fragility, have never been exhibited before. As well as being impressive for their size, these works are surprisingly diverse and of great beauty.
Taco Dibbits, Director of the Rijksmuseum
Cyclorama discovered
The greatest discovery of all was the cyclorama, which unknown to anyone had lain rolled up in the depot for decades – in the collection database it was described as a ‘wall hanging’. It was in preparation for this exhibition that the object was unrolled and studied for the first time. The vibrant pastel colours were clearly hand-painted, and the small holes at the top of the paper raised questions about whether it was actually a wall hanging at all. Archival research revealed that this work was part of the Reuzencylorama, a gigantic, 1,500-metre-long moving panorama of landscapes of Switzerland, Austria and Italy. It was commissioned in the mid-19th century by the German businessman Ferdinand Reichardt and painted in Berlin by several set builders. Reichardt toured with the panorama trough the Netherlands, Belgium and England, giving shows that transported audiences on a journey through Southern Europe.
Rarity
Paper offers some great advantages over other media: it is relatively cheap, and printing techniques make it possible to reproduce and distribute large numbers of copies. It is also a simple matter to glue large sheets together to create expansive tableaus. But using paper also has its drawbacks, one being that it is delicate and therefore susceptible to damage, and large numbers of works made of this material have been lost over the centuries. This means that many of the exhibits in XXL Paper are exceptionally rare, an example being the unique paper altarpiece from 1650 (Calvary with the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and Mary Magdalen, print, 196 x 126 cm).
Long tradition
This exhibition presents works dating from 1500 to the present day. One of the earliest exhibits is the c. 1535 family tree of Emperor Charles V by Robert Péril (woodcut, almost 7 metres tall). XXL Paper also features contemporary works such as Gunkanjima by Sanne Peper (photograph, 125 x 178 cm) and De nachtwolken drijven het vergetene mee (The night-time clouds carry off the forgotten one) by Jacobien de Rooij (drawing, 306 x 606 cm).
Actual size
Paper is also used in design processes, and the exhibition includes several actual-size design drawings, or cartons, for stained glass windows, a tapestry and other works. The enormous drawings for the windows of the St Bavokerk in Haarlem are 16th-century in origin, while the drawings for the windows of St Martin's Cathedral in Utrecht were made by Richard Roland Holst in the 20th century. These enormous works are not only impressive to look at, but also show that in 400 years the craft of stained glass window making has hardly changed.
Benefactors
The restoration of the cyclorama was made possible thanks to the Bank ten Cate & Cie. Fund/Rijksmuseum Fund.
Downloads
, anoniem, ca. 1850, Rijksmuseum.jpg?c=d45ccc1ae578ddc158832d27e6c07330654e9bf577314d7b2faec7632c9fd26a){kind=link}
Fragment of a cyclorama (moving panorama) (detail), Borgmann brothers and Heinrich Heyl (attributed to), c. 1853, width 180 cm × length 2309 cm. The conservation of the cyclorama is made possible by the Bank ten Cate & Cie. Fund/Rijksmuseum Fund
Landing of Scipio Africanus near Carthago, Michiel Coxie (I) (attributed to), c. 1555, gouache, height 248 cm × width 257 cm. Purchased with the support of the Jaffé-Pierson Stichting and the Vereniging Rembrandt.
Design of the stained glass window of the north transept of the Utrecht Dom (detail), Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, c. 1934, height c. 1650 cm × width c. 490 cm. R. Roland Holst Bequest.
Crucifixion, Mattheus Borrekens, 1650, engraving, height 196,1 cm × width 125,7 cm
Frederik Hendrik's funeral procession in 1647 (detail), Pieter Nolpe, after Pieter Jansz. Post, 1651, etching, height 20 cm x width 1650 cm
Conservators of the Rijksmuseum preparing het Giant Cyclorama for the exhibition XXL Paper.. Photo: Rijksmuseum/Bibi Veth
Conservators of the Rijksmuseum preparing het Giant Cyclorama for the exhibition XXL Paper.. Photo: Rijksmuseum/Bibi Veth
Conservators of the Rijksmuseum preparing het Giant Cyclorama for the exhibition XXL Paper.. Photo: Rijksmuseum/Bibi Veth
One Hundred Children (detail), Xu Yanghong, c. 1700 - c. 1799, ink on paper, height 31 cm × width 686,5 cm. Purchased with the support of Rituals