Flemish Minister Bert Anciaux acquires the Tsgrooten Antiphonary for the Flemish Art Collection.

On February 1st, 2008 Flemish Culture Minister Bert Anciaux acquired the Tongerlo Antiphonary, also known as Tsgrooten Antiphonary, for the Flemish Art Collection, an exceptionally richly illuminated choir book Tongerlo abbot Antonius Tsgrooten had commissioned in 1522 from scribe Franciscus Van Weert of Averbode Abbey. The Gregorian choir book is an important piece of late medieval musical heritage and was acquired by the Flemish Minister of Culture as a key item within the framework of his Decree on the acquisition and protection of rare or exceptional movable patrimony. Anciaux paid 400,000 Euro, a moderate price for a manuscript that would make much more at international auctions. The Antiphonary has been in the possession of the Merode family for years and will now be given on loan to the Flemish Patrimonial Library. It will remain at the Ghent Book Tower for further and closer investigation during the next couple of years. “I am really very happy that this rare and precious piece of musical heritage will stay in Flanders, and that from now on it will, thanks to the Ghent University’s patrimonial library, that digitized the 337 pages of the manuscript in less than a week, be accessible to all,” a delighted minister said. Whoever surfs to www.antifonarium-tsgrooten.be will be able to listen to excerpts from the book as performed by the Psallentes Ensemble during the press conference.

A key work for the Flemish Collection

Apart from its undeniable artistic qualities, this manuscript also has a special value for the collective memory, as it bears witness of the richness of religious music in the 15th and 16th Century southern Netherlands. So far, no Premonstratensian (Norbertine) musical documents had been protected by the decree. There is an increasing interest in the musical heritage of the late Middle Ages, as is shown by the numerous music festivals that present late medieval and early Renaissance secular and religious music (Flemish Polyphony).

The Antiphonary also marks a period of transition - in some places the notes – as well as the text, for that matter – had been changed. We know the precise date of origin of the manuscript (1522) and can, therefore, trace the musical changes that took place during the 16th Century. We know that this was an important period in the history of music – it was the century of polyphony, in which Flemish composers (i Fiamminghi) had taken the lead. An era of change in Gregorian Chant, too, as a result of the Council of Trent.
As the manuscript has been identified in time and place, it also has a major significance as a reference work, revealing a lot about the Brabant artistic environment (copying and illuminating) and about the musical traditions in the Premonstratensian movement. It will help us assess manuscripts that have come down to us without contextual information. And, of course, no need to say that it contains relevant and useful information, as far as the miniatures are concerned, for both religious and secular manuscripts, because most miniaturists worked on religious as well as on secular manuscripts. For Flemish researchers who intend to study the flourishing art of miniature painting in Brabant, this Antiphonary will be an extremely important piece of source material.

A pro-active policy

With this acquisition, Culture Minister Anciaux confirms yet once more that he meant serious business when early in 2007 he announced he would pursue a policy of pro-active acquisition of rare and exceptional works . Last year, there was the acquisition of James Ensor’s ‘Pierrot et Squelette en jaune’ and of the Ghysels collection - a collection of mechanical organs of the first half of the 20th Century.

This manuscript was brought to his attention at the end of November 2007: the Merode family had offered the manuscript to the Royal Library a couple of months earlier and vigilant academics of various Flemish universities and patrimonial libraries had informed the Flemish government of the imminent sale. The family had made it clear that it was attached to keeping the manuscript in the country, if possible.

When after an inquiry the minister was convinced this was a meaningful and important manuscript that was offered at a very reasonable price, he decided to close the deal. The Flemish Community bought the manuscript for 400,000 Euro. According to experts, the Antiphonary would have made at least 50% more at international auctions.

At the time of the first budget control for 2008, minister Anciaux increased the budget for the acquisition of top items by 2 million Euro. He now has a budget of over 3.5 million ready for the purchase of rare or exceptional items.

On loan to the Flemish Patrimonial Library, digitized by the Ghent University Library

The manuscript will be given on loan to the Flemish Patrimonial Library, a collaboration between the most prominent patrimonial libraries in Flanders: the university libraries of Ghent, Louvain and Antwerp, the City libraries of Antwerp and Bruges and the provincial library at Hasselt. The Flemish Patrimonial Library was established on the minister’s request in order to create an internationally renowned centre of knowledge to support the numerous Flemish repository libraries. The Patrimonial Library’s core missions are, among other things, to harmonize collection policies, to establish expertise on conservation, draw up an inventory of damages and a calamity plan, make collections of cultural heritage bibliographically accessible and digitize the collections.

The manuscript was digitized in less than a week by the Ghent University Library and made accessible to the general public via the internet. The university dedicated a special website to this new acquisition: www.antifonarium-tsgrooten.be. During the next couple of years, the Antiphonary will be studied and analyzed at the Ghent Book Tower. After that, it will possibly be taken over by other parties in the Flemish Patrimonial library network.

Other recent acquisitions of top works

Drawing “Christ shown to the people” from the series ‘les Auréoles’ by James Ensor (2004) – 350,000€ – currently at the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK), Ghent
“Prova-car” by Panamarenko (2005) – 364,000€ - currently at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MuHKA), Antwerp
“Pense-Bête”by Marcel Broodthaers (2006) – 400,000€ – currently at the City Museum of Actual Art (SMAK), Ghent
Capronnier stained glass archive (2006) – 75,000€ – currently at Kadoc, Louvain
“Pierrot et Squelette en jaune” by James Ensor (2007) – 1,500,000€ – currently at the MSK, Ghent
Ghysels Collection (mechanical organs) (2007)
Tsgrooten Antiphonary – 400,000€ (2008)