Thanks to a gift by the King Bauduin Foundation, the Rubens’ House has acquired two more masterworks. One is a painting by Van Dijck, the other a self portrait by Jordaens, two contemporaries of Rubens and in the case of Van Dijck also a close co-worker and a personal friend.
Van Dijck’s painting is one of a set representing the apostles. In this case it is Matthew, the one who joined the apostles to bring the number to twelve again after Judas’ suicide.
Jordaens’ selfportrait is a copy of an existing self portrait (the original is in Neuburg on the Danube, Germany) by a pupil of Jordaens on which Jordaens himself has co-operated.
The two paintings will be on display on the Bafra event in Brussels next week, afterwards the Royal Arts Institute is going to study the paintings after which they will on exhibit again in Rubens’ House.
The most famous name in Antwerp history is undoubtedly Peter Paul Rubens, the Baroque painter.
Come visit Antwerp to (re)discover the master and his works.
Rubens statue at Groenplaats
See his statue, erected to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his death in 1840. The Rubens statue stands in the middle of Groenplaats, one of the city’s busiest places. A popular meeting place for people from Antwerp to start an evening out or a walk in the historic heart of the city.
Behind the statue you can admire the spire of the Our Lady’s Chathedral. Don’t forget to visit the cathedral, as it contains not less than 4 paintings by the master, besides a great many other works of art.
Nearby, just off the busy shopping avenue of Meir, on a square called Wapper, you can find the master’s house which now houses a museum completely devoted to Rubens and his works.
Just a few 100 meters away at Sint-Jacobsmarkt, is Saint James’s church where Rubens was buried. The chapel where the Rubens family was buried is adorned with a painting the master himself selected for his resting place.
Saint Carl Borromeus Church
Not to be missed is the phenomenal Saint Carl Borromeus church, the former jesuit’s church at Conscienceplein. Unfortunately the painted ceilings Rubens provided for this church were lost in a fire, but there are strong signs Rubens contributed to both the façade and the tower of this masterpiece of baroque architecture.
Not so far away, the old dominican church, Saint Paul’s, next to the red light quarter, houses works by Rubens and some of his contemporaries.
Of course many of the other Antwerp museums show works by Rubens, such as the Fine Arts Museum (closed for intensive restauration works until 2019), the Museum Plantin-Moretus (Christoff Plantin was a close friend of Rubens’), the museum Rockoxhuis, …
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