Exhibition The Kunstmuseum Basel reveals surprising backs of paintings
In some old masterpieces, it is difficult to tell which is the front and which is the back, as shown by the example of the three saints in the painting (right), who have to give way to the Nativity on the front when the painting is hung.
Image: Keystone
A double painting by Niklaus Manuel gen. Deutsch (1517) with the erotic depiction of a bathing nude on the front and the explicit visitation of a prostitute by Death, who kisses her and reaches into her crotch on the once hidden back.
Image: Keystone
In some old masterpieces, it is difficult to tell which is the front and which is the back, as shown by the example of the three saints in the painting (right), who have to give way to the Nativity on the front when the painting is hung.
Image: Keystone
A double painting by Niklaus Manuel gen. Deutsch (1517) with the erotic depiction of a bathing nude on the front and the explicit visitation of a prostitute by Death, who kisses her and reaches into her crotch on the once hidden back.
Image: Keystone
A look behind the paintings can be quite beautiful, surprising and revealing. With the "Verso" exhibition, the Kunstmuseum Basel reveals what normally remains hidden when walking through the gallery of old masters.
30.01.2025, 14:42
SDA
Presented on the wall like this, few would notice that the three saints Hieronimus, Augustine and Hubertus are only of secondary importance. In the painting by Hans Baldung gen. Grien (1510), which was formerly used as an altarpiece, the birth of Christ takes precedence and thus has its place on the front, as required by the Christian hierarchy.
The three saints are therefore not shown in the hanging on the wall. The exhibition "Verso. Stories from the back" now provides a remedy. It allows visitors to rediscover 36 works of art from the collection.
What is easy to understand in the case of wings from portable altars is rather surprising in the case of other paintings: for example, the bust portrait of a young woman (around 1508), on the reverse of which the artist Lucas Cranach the Elder added the portrait of a saint.
Artistic coats of arms of portrait subjects
Other portraits feature artistically painted coats of arms on the backs of the subjects, some of which were added later by other painters, as can be seen in the well-known double portrait of the mayor Jacob Meyer zum Hasen and his wife (1516) by Hans Holbein the Younger.
The exhibition also brings surprising things to light. For example, a still life by Peter Snyers, who reused a copper printing plate that was already 150 years old at the time. Or the erotic painting of a naked woman bathing (1510), on the reverse of which Niklaus Manuel gen. Deutsch added the explicit depiction of a prostitute being sexually coerced by Death.
The portrait of the supposed nobleman David Joris (around 1540/44) has a special status. Basel quickly granted the very wealthy migrant, who had entered the city under a false name, citizenship until it emerged three years after his death that he was a wanted heretic. Joris was posthumously sentenced to death. This story was then immortalized on the back of the painting as a kind of warning.
The exhibition "Verso. Stories from the back" can be seen until the beginning of 2026.
