The Costume Collection

Lying in a prominent position, in the Floor Panel, is a reproduction of the painting by the Antwerp painter van Haecht, (202) Apelles painting Campapse, The Mauritshuis Collection. The classical story within the van Haecht painting is situated in an imaginary museum containing art treasures which the artist (van Haecht) saw around him every day, along with works which he may never have seen, and were therefore reproduced using memory and imagination. The painting is not only a masterpiece due to its visual richness, but due also to the many stories and hidden meanings the artist built into it. In The Collection the reproduction of this painting is situated on the central seat, where we are led to believe the visitor could have sat. (199) The Golden Gown, The Costume Collection lays across this central seat and could be a reference to the golden gown of Campapse in the Apelles Painting Campapse reproduction. Both the look of the costume and the positioning of the seat are comparable.