The Queen Elisabeth Medal

In May 2020, the Grand Curtius is Highlighting this medal portraying Queen Elisabeth, originally intended, during the World War I, to reward anyone who has devoted a year to war reliefs. The medal, with a red cross under the ribbon, was intended especially for health care workers and nurses whose quiet devotion and sacrifice greatly helped to ease the suffering of many sick and wounded.

Andromache's theriac

In this month of intense medical activity, the Grand Curtius is highlighting this Delft earthenware pharmacy jar dating from the early 18th century, found in the Bavarian hospital. The inscription at the centre of the jar provides information about its contents: the Andromachean theriac, from the Greek thêriakos meaning "that which concerns poisonous beasts". A remedy sometimes adulated, sometimes denounced, let it take you on a journey through the centuries of its history, from Ancient Greece to the mysterious pharmacies of Liège, not forgetting the doctor of Emperor Nero, whose name it will retain.

The Ramayana by Samhita Arni and Moyna Chitrakar

A few days before the celebration of the International Women's Rights Day, the Grand Curtius honors this revisiting of the Ramayana, a true pillar of the Hindu religion, contesting the achievements of King Ramah as well as the reputation of his wife, judged guilty of a fault she had not committed. By giving him the floor and the opportunity to give his version of the facts, the artists Samhita Arni and Moyna Chitrakar revisit the violence suffered by women yesterday and today, and stand against the male oppression that has so far guided the reading of the events recounted in the epic.