Collection of Prince Albert II in Bruges
This summer, masterpieces from the stamp collection of Prince Albert II of Monaco are being exhibited in Bruges. To draw attention to this, Belgium and Monaco issued a joint stamp. The stamp depicts a detail from a 17th-century painting: Cabaret on the Riverbank. This painting is by Jan Brueghel the Younger, the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder and grandson of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Prince Albert II of Monaco has many more works by Old Flemish Masters in his collection.
The prince also has a very special stamp collection. The chairman of the exclusive Monte Carlo Club is the Belgian Patrick Maselis. The philatelic club was founded in 1999 by Prince Rainier of Monaco, an avid stamp collector and father of Prince Albert II.
Exhibition in Havenhuis De Caese
Every year, the club organizes exhibitions outside Monaco, and this year it was in Bruges, at the Havenhuis De Caese. The beautiful building from 1765 is located on Hoogstraat, in the heart of the city center. At the request of the Monegasque Embassy, the Havenhuis was opened to the public for this occasion.
The exhibition runs until August 15. Many postal items, up to complete sheets of stamps, are on display, half of which come from Prince Albert's collection. The other half comes from collections of members of the Club de Monte-Carlo with 'Bruges' as the theme. For stamp collectors from Monaco and Belgium, it is a delight to behold and something to be envious of….
What strikes me about the two stamps is that both the coloring and the image are not identical. Is this a matter of craftsmanship?
What also strikes me is that Monaco has turned it into an unnecessarily high postal value.
Probably because they know that many Belgium collectors are going to buy this stamp.
Finally another piece by Cees Janssen,
I missed them!
For your information: I visited this (free) exhibition. It concerns only a section of the cellars that is opened for the exhibition and NOT the beautiful ground floor or the extremely interesting upper floor.
The exhibition is quite small, but contains a number of beautiful pieces from Belgian stamp history, an overview of the postal history of Monaco and of Bruges throughout the centuries.
Indeed, in the cellars of the building. In the photo on the right, through the gate and then down the stairs. It takes a moment to get used to the darkness, but after that, the sheets of stamps, the mail, designs, and so on are clearly visible. I was able to admire a few rooms on the ground floor, beautifully decorated. But that was a coincidence.
I went to take a look today, and the 'Monaco' section was a huge disappointment. Actually, there wasn't a single stamp from Monaco to be seen.
Apparently, Rainier's collection was only in Bruges for 2 weeks.
All that was visible were color copies!
It is simply a disgrace. Then close the exhibition after 2 weeks, or notify the people.
The Belgium – Belgian Congo section and the beautiful collection of predecessors (Bruges theme) were certainly worthwhile.