The Archaeology of Gaze: visual itineraries between Flanders and Rome (16th-17th cent.). Painting

   The Art Museum in Cluj-Napoca (MACN), a public institution of county interest operating under the authority of the Cluj County Council, is organizing from June 17 to August 9, 2026, the exhibition " The Archaeology of Gaze: visual itineraries between Flanders and Rome (16th-17th cent.)", featuring works from the museum's heritage. 

Landscape constitutes one of the major themes of European art, offering both a window into the past and food for the creative imagination of the contemporary viewer. Vanished places, mysterious groves, and characters from other eras challenge the eye and the spirit to reconstruct lost identities and reflect on the transience of places and people. 

   The visual adventure begins in the lavish ambiance of certain cities from the 16th-century Flemish world, where the artist captures daily life with an almost documentary precision, offering the contemporary viewer the opportunity to give free rein to their imagination in weaving their own story around the canvas. The gaze is then directed towards the groves in the vicinity of Rome in the following century, gradually approaching the Eternal City itself. The Aventine Hill becomes the stage for a folk-dance pulsing with the joy and good cheer of simple people (bambocciata). The final stop on this visual archaeological journey will be by the Milvio Bridge, a structure that has survived intact from antiquity, being one of the favorite motifs of artists seeking perfection and fame within the entourage of the popes. 

   The theme of the exhibition was chosen to highlight a selection from the museum's heritage fund of European art. The paintings make up a page in the history of the local community and reflect the tastes and practices of collectors from Vienna and Transylvania in the second half of the 19th century. 

  The proposed selection starts with the two 16th-century Flemish landscapes, created by an anonymous author, continues with paintings from the Seicento, namely the forest fragment captured by the Frenchman Gaspard Dughet in the vicinity of Rome, culminating in two iconic locations for artists of yesterday and today: the Aventine Hill, whose surroundings host a dynamic tavern scene rendered by the Flemish Jan Miel, and the ancient Milvio Bridge reflected in an architectural capriccio in which an anonymous author recomposes classical visual elements.