The Fall of Alba's Citadel Art Exhibition at KMSKA: Memory and Propaganda

This exhibition centers on a 17th-century painting depicting the demolition of Antwerp's citadel in 1577, exploring how such images were manipulated to shape historical narratives. Through detailed analysis and recent restoration, the display reveals layers of power, political propaganda, and symbolic quackery embedded within the artwork.

For centuries, a large citadel stood in Antwerp’s southern quarter, built by the Duke of Alba to maintain control over the city during the Eighty Years' War. In 1577, the city's inhabitants seized and partially dismantled the fortress, an event captured in a painting created around 1620 within the circle of Sebastiaen Vrancx. This exhibition utilizes this specific work to investigate the intersection of art, history, and propaganda in the Low Countries. Following a meticulous restoration by the KMSKA, new research has uncovered an ever-expanding narrative within the canvas. Originally intended to celebrate the demolition, the painting was reworked to include subtle, subversive details—such as fighting children and a deceitful quack—that fundamentally shifted its message during a period when the city had returned to Spanish rule. The presence of bladder stones, symbols of both medical purification and fraudulent cures, highlights the ambiguity of the image and the ways in which visual culture has been used to influence memory for centuries.

The exhibition is located in the Print Room on the third floor of the museum. It is included in the standard museum entrance ticket, and no separate time slot booking is required for this display.