About
The documentary heritage of the Périer-D’Ieteren Foundation is organised into three complementary sections: the Library, the Archives and the Photo Library.
The Library holds over 5,000 volumes, acquired through purchases and donations, covering the artistic fields of the former Southern Netherlands from the 15th to the 18th century. It focuses particularly on painting, sculpture and tapestry, as well as the theories and practices of conservation and restoration. It also includes a significant collection of auction house and gallery catalogues dating from the late 20th century, recently expanded to include catalogues of old master paintings sold at Christie’s and Sotheby’s since the 1980s.
The Foundation’s archives comprise six collections: four collections belonging to art historians – Catheline Périer-D’Ieteren (a living collection that is constantly evolving), Paul Philippot, Sophie Schneebalg-Perelman and Louise Longneaux – and two institutional collections: the Centre for Research and Technological Studies in the Visual Arts (CRETAP, ULB) and that of the Foundation itself, which holds its administrative records and projects. Dedicated to art history, the technological study of artworks and their conservation and restoration, these collections are partially digitised and available for consultation.
The photo library holds over 15,000 images – paper prints, slides and digital files – covering a wide range of artistic disciplines from the Southern Netherlands from the 15th to the 18th century, with a predominance of Brabant paintings and sculpted altarpieces. It also includes extensive documentation on restoration processes, as well as images from scientific investigations (ultraviolet, infrared and X-ray). Part of this collection is accessible via the Altar database.
The Altar database offers structured, cross-disciplinary access to all of the Foundation’s collections, enabling comprehensive or targeted searches and linking, via keywords, works, artists and documentary resources held in the library, archives and image library.