Peter Paul Rubens, the great Flemish Baroque painter was the greatest and most famous of Antwerp artists and his work pops up everywhere in Antwerp. Of course I wasn’t surprised to see his work in his former house which I visit in a side street named ‘Wapper’ off a wide avenue of trendy fashion shops. Rubens bought an existing 16th century house here after he returned from 8 years of artistic training in Italy. In Italy, Rubens was inspired by Greco-Roman sculptures, Italian Renaissance artists and the Baroque movement particularly Caravaggio. When Rubens returned to Antwerp in 1608, it was a good time to be a painter.
In the atmosphere of the Counter Reformation, religious art was undergoing a boom. The Catholics took back their churches and there were commissions for alter pieces and other religious art. Rubens became busy and popular. Then, because of the climate of relative political peace (there was a 12 year truce in the Eighty years war); coupled with an economy that was going gangbusters, people were travelling and foreigners were able to see his great works in Antwerp’s churches. He soon started receiving commissions from abroad. He became one of Antwerp’s richest residents and was able to fund the renovations to his house on the Wapper! He completed additions to the house including a large studio, with an Italian Renaissance style facade and garden pavilion. It was one of the most grand residences in Antwerp at the time.
The city of Antwerp acquired the house in 1937 and it underwent a restoration process which appears to be continuing to this day – there was plenty of scaffolding around when I visited. The house contains 17th century furnishings including a short box bed like the one in Rembrandt’s house. Of course you remember from my previous blogs, that the bed did not need to be long as people in the olden days slept half sitting up due to their belief that if they were flat all the blood would go to the brain and kill them in their sleep. The tiles around the hearth were painted with delft blue designs and there were Roman busts. The art collection in the house comprises many of Ruben’s works including one of his very famous self portraits as well as the work of his pupils including Antony Van Dyck, his contemporaries and predecessors.
Ruben’s was a proponent of the Baroque style: grand and rich, busy with drama and emotion. Many of his paintings are of religious scenes but there are also portraits, a few landscapes and mythological and historical scenes. He seemed particularly fond of female nudes. His second wife Helena was his model in many of his paintings. Rubens female nudes are amply proportioned and sensuous. Their fleshy pale skin is sometimes flushed or ruddy and it has dimples and creases. While they might represent a romantic ideal of the time, they still seem to me to be natural beauties. Sometimes their breasts are uneven or their eyes red from crying. In fact the emotion on some of his faces is captivating. It is easy to warm to these women.
Near the Grote Markt (the central square) in Antwerp is the Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal), the “largest gothic cathedral of the low countries”. Last week in Haarlem I said I went to the largest church in The Netherlands, but this one is even bigger. The Low Countries is not a particularly modern phrase but I think it kind of refers to Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg combined. This even bigger church contains four humongous works by Rubens; three were made by Ruben’s especially for the Cathedral. My favourite is The Descent from the Cross. It’s a triptych so it has a centre piece with Jesus being lowered from the cross; and two side panels, one with a pregnant Mary. The faces of many of the subjects are worth seeing close up.
This even bigger church also had the Rest In Peace messages on the floor slabs indicating prominent dead people beneath my feet. The church was built over two hundred years between the 14th and 16th centuries and has beautiful stained glass windows and arches, and alters belonging to the old guilds each with its own paintings and sculptures. I was in church longer today than I ever have been in church in my life taking it all in.
I’m not entirely shocked to see more of Ruben’s at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp. He is clearly very important in Antwerp’s history. (His statue stands in the Groenplaats). The museum is on the south side of the city and I walk there but it is further than I thought. Cobble stone paths and ballet flats lead to incredibly sore feet. I can feel every askew rock bruising my soles and most of the paving is askew. But I forget this when a room filled with Ruben’s massive religious paintings takes my breath away. (It’s a cliché phrase but true). There is work by other famous artists here but nothing matches up to Rubens for its size and drama. I catch a free tram ride back to the Grote Markt in the centre of town – I tried to pay but the tram driver and I had a miscommunication. I’m not sure which language either of us was speaking.
The Grote Markt in Antwerp was stunning today. The only cloud in the sky was actually a hot air balloon so it was perfect to gently roast myself in an outdoor cafe and look at the 16th century Guild Halls across the cobble stone square and the similarly aged Town Hall decorated with coats of arms and colourful regional flags. I watch Belgian school groups follow their teachers around on their excursions. The younger kids wear fluro yellow safety vests so they don’t get separated from the group (very embarrassing) and the older kids are kept in line with the teacher blowing a referee’s whistle. At 6pm, the sun is still hot and I have a glass of wine and a plate of cheese (why not?). I watch a fietscafe which must be unique to Antwerp and translates to a bicycle pub – the drinkers sit around a table on wheels and pedal with their feet while drinking beer served by a barman who steers the moving bicycle vehicle/bar. At 7pm, the chocolate shops are still open so I stock up on Belgian chocolate supplies (for Sean). I grimace with each step on those bloody cobblestones paths back to Antwerp train station. Antwerp station is another beautiful architectural spectacle. By 9pm, I am back in the Netherlands and home, it is still daylight and where is Sean? Recovering at the pub after enduring an afternoon spent watching cyclists racing on The Fred, part of a 50km race for Dutch teams today. That is heaven for him!
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