Münster Barock | Tour 4: Between Tradition and Change - the Flourishing of Baroque after 1648

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 reshaped the political order of Europe and placed the Dutch Republic at the continent's centre. Trade, migration and religious diversity shaped a society in which new ideas and artistic forms took hold.

Selected masterworks tell the story of this era caught between tradition and change - and of the people who, moving across borders, helped define the cultural face of Europe. Among them is Wolfgang Heimbach, a deaf North German Baroque painter whose life took him through the Netherlands, Rome, Florence and Copenhagen before ending in Münster.

The tour takes in virtuoso royal portraits, richly coloured still lifes, vivid scenes of everyday life, grand depictions of ancient gods and heroes, and examples of representative interior culture.