Two masterpieces from the castle art gallery have found their way into galleries around the world

07 Apr 2026

Anthonis van Dyck, King Charles I of England and His Wife Henrietta Mary, between 1632–1634

Anthonis van Dyck, Anglický král Karel I. a jeho manželka Henrietta Marie, mezi 1632–1634

The portrait of Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria by Anthonis van Dyck is one of the most valuable works in the Picture Gallery of the Archbishop’s Palace in Kroměříž. It is currently on display as part of a major retrospective exhibition dedicated to this Flemish Baroque master in Genoa, Italy. Another work — Hans Hoffmann’s painting "Two Fools" — has traveled to Brussels, from where it will move on to Milan. The castle Picture Gallery and the works exhibited there are cared for by experts from the Archdiocesan Museum in Kroměříž, a branch of the Olomouc Museum of Art.

Van Dyck’s 1632 portrait of Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria is one of the castle’s most valuable paintings, alongside Titian’s Apollo and Marsyas. It is on display in Genoa, Italy, through July 19, 2026, and will return to the Picture Gallery in Kroměříž this August.

Art galleries around the world have also expressed interest in Hans Hoffmann’s painting Two Fools. The painting, a textbook example of the Renaissance fascination with ugliness and deformity, will be on display in the first half of the year at Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (February 20–June 14, 2026), one of Belgium’s most significant and prestigious cultural centers. From Brussels, it will move to the Galleria d’Italia in Milan (July 9–October 18, 2026). In both galleries, it will be part of the exhibition Beauty and Ugliness: The Ideal, the Real and the Grotesque in the Renaissance.

Hans Hoffmann, Two Fools, c. 1530, oil on oak; 50×38 cm. Archbishopric of Olomouc – Kroměříž Archdiocesan Museum

“I am very pleased by the interest shown by prestigious museums and galleries around the world in the collections of the Archdiocese of Olomouc. We carefully consider every loan request and only lend paintings for exceptional exhibitions. I would like to point out to visitors that they will not miss out on Anthonis van Dyck’s work entirely at the castle picture gallery; they can also view his magnificent painting Portrait of a Man with Gloves from 1626–1632 here,” says Alena Tobolková, head of the heritage conservation department at the Archdiocese of Olomouc.

Annibale Carracci’s painting Latona and the Peasants will soon return to the exhibition in Kroměříž; it is currently on display at the Idea of Beauty exhibition at the Archdiocesan Museum in Olomouc until April 19.

Annibale Carracci (1560–1609), Latona and the Peasants, oil on canvas. Archbishopric of Olomouc – Archbishop’s Castle Kroměříž

The collection at the Kroměříž Castle Gallery is of exceptional artistic value and ranks among the most significant in all of Europe. This extensive and unique collection of rare paintings was founded by Karel of Liechtenstein-Castelcorn, Bishop of Olomouc, in the second half of the 17th century. Although some paintings are temporarily on display at the aforementioned galleries, dozens of selected original works by prominent European painters remain in Kroměříž. They have been on view again in the nine halls of the Kroměříž Castle Gallery since the end of March, when the visitor season began. In addition to the world-renowned masterpiece, Titian’s Apollo and Marsyas, notable works include those by the German Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder and his Beheading of St. John the Baptist, as well as works by the Venetian masters Paolo Veronese and Jacopo Bassano.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)