After his death the house was sold to others who, through the course of time, changed it considerably. In 1937 the severely damaged house was bought by the City of Antwerp (thanks to Mayor Camille Huysmans). Two old sketches from the 1680's (the oldest known images of the house) were used as basis for the restoration.
It now houses the Rubens House Museum. Nowadays visitors to the house should be aware that they don't visit a house as it was left behind by its most famous inhabitant, but rather a reconstruction of what it must have looked like in the first half of the 17th century. The collection of paintings by Rubens himself and by some of his contemporaries alone already make it worth it to pay the entrance fee. During a visit one can stroll through the reconstructed garden, visit the work shop of Rubens and his private quarters.
In the side-street named Wapper of the Meir avenue stands the former house of Peter Paul Rubens, the greatest and most famous of all the Antwerp painters. Rubens bought an existing 16th century house here, after he had returned from his stay in Italy (1600-1608). He lived in the house from 1616 onwards and died here in 1640.
Rubens had it embellished and turned it into one of the most elegant Renaissance-Baroque Houses of the Low Countries, with a beautiful restyled garden and an impressive entrance. It was here that most of his splendid Baroque paintings were created. Diplomats, artists, art lovers and collectors, scientists and even the Spanish Archdukes Albert and Isabella visited him here. It was also here that his first wife Isabella Brant and his daughter died.
Wapper 9 - 11, 2000 Antwerpen.
info.rubenshuis@cs.antwerpen.be
Open every day (except Mondays), from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed on certain public holidays.
Admission: 5 Euro. Every Friday free admission.
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten
(Royal Museum of Fine Arts)
(text taken from an antwerp brochure).
The collections at this museum give a representative description of the art production in our regions from the 14th to 20th centuries and a number of remarkable foreign masters. Highlights include works by Jan Van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Quinten Metsijs, the Bruegel family, Jean Foquet, Lucas Cranach, Titiaan, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Anthony Van Dyck, and many more.
Derek and I have visited this beautiful museum several times. Jack was there in February 2002. It is in walking distance from our home.
Plaatsnijdersstraat 2, 2000 Antwerp
(main entrance Leopold de Waelplaats)
32 03 238 78 09
www.antwerpen.be/cultuur/kmska
Current information about all activities
and exhibitions can be found on the
website.
Museum Mayer van den Bergh
(text taken from an antwerp brochure).
In the Museum Mayer van den Bergh, the Rubens House and the Museum van Gelder you can stride through one thousand years of European art. These three unique Antwerp houses are variations on the same theme: you discover what it is like to 'live with art'.
This formerly private collection enjoys International fame and was housed in one of the most charming museums of the country in 1904. In the overview of the earliest art of painting from the Low Countries to the 17th century, the Flemish primitives and the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder form the highlights. The rich collection of medieval sculpture contains masterpieces from all over Europe, and the applied arts offer fascinating examples of tapestries, enamels, Ivories, bronzes and stained-glass windows from the Byzantine era to the 18th century.
This museum is also in close proximity to our home and we visited it in the summer of 2000 with Jack and Carole.
Lange Gasthuisstraat 19, 2000 Antwerp
32 03 232 42 37
www.dma.be/cultuur/museum_mvdb
Opening Hours: Every day from 10am to 5pm. Closed on Monday.
Only one building of the old part of Antwerp escaped demolition when the quays on the river Scheldt were constructed in the 19th century: 't Steen (the Stone). The Steen was built around the year 1200 as the fortification of the alluvial mound. It was named Steen, which is Dutch for stone, as it was one of the first buildings constructed in stone.
The Steen was altered several times during history. It was extended during Charles V's reign around 1520 by the architects Keldermans and De Waghemakere. The chapel above the entrance dates from this period. From 1549 till 1823 the building served as a prison and in 1862 it became an archeological museum. The Steen was renovated again in 1890 and a wing in neo-gothic style was added.
Today the Steen houses the National Maritime Museum. Adjacent to the ancient structure, the Maritime museum also displays several old vessels in open-air.
The entrance to the Steen is guarded by the 'Lange Wapper' statue. This statue was made in 1963 by Albert Poels and represents a legendary person called Lange Wapper, the Antwerp version of the boogie man. He terrified children and drunks. The name 'Lange Wapper' is now also used for a new fountain in the river Scheldt.
Jack visited this museum on one of his earlier trips.
Steenplein 1, 2000 Antwerp
Opening Hours : every day from 10-5pm. Closed on Monday. Admission : 4 Euro, free admission on Fridays.
Opening Hours: every day from 10am to 5pm. Closed on Monday.
Admission: 3,72 Euro. Every Friday free admission.
