ANTWERP 149

Choice antique furniture and art in the Museum Mayer van den Bergh

R St-Jacobskerk
Lange Nieuwstraat 73–75,
Eikenstraat. Tel (03) 2321032.

Apr–Oct: 2–5pm Wed–Mon;

Nov–Mar: 9am–noon Mon–Sat. &
Noted as Pieter Paul Rubens’s
burial place, this sandstone
church was built between
1491 and 1656. Rubens’s
tomb, in his family’s chapel

E Museum van

Hedendaagse Kunst

Antwerpen (MuHKA)

Leuvenstraat 32. Tel (03) 2609999.

# 11am–6pm Tue–Sun (until 9pm

Thu). & 0 = http://www.muhka.be

This museum fits perfectly into

a city famed for its sense of

style and design. Once a 1920s

dockside grain silo and ware-

house, the huge, sculptural

building has been transformed

into a series of unusual

spaces to display works from

the front line of international

contemporary art. It includes

work by many of the artists

who helped place Belgium at

the forefront of the art scene

in recent years, including Luc

Tuymans, Panamarenko, Jan

Fabre and Wim Delvoye.

P Rockoxhuis
Keizerstraat 12. Tel (03) 2019250.

10am–5pm Tue–Sun. &

http://www.rockoxhuis.be
Nicholaas Rockox (1560–1640)
was the mayor of Antwerp as
well as a humanist, philanthro-
p ist and a friend and patron
of Rubens. These attributes
are reflected in his beautifully
renovated home – a series of
rooms set around a formal
courtyard garden. They hold
a fine collection of
contemporary furniture
and miscellaneous
artifacts, all interesting
and well chosen. The
paintings include
work by Pieter
Brueghel the
Younger, Rubens,
Jordaens and van
Dyck, as well as by
his neighbour, Frans
Snyders (1579–1657), who
was much admired by Rubens,
and painted the fruit and flow-
ers in Rubens’s work. E Rubenshuis
See pp150–51.

E FotoMuseum

Waalse Kaai 47. Tel (03) 2429300

# 10am–6pm Tue–Sun. =

http://www.fotomuseum.be

The city’s excellent museum

of photography displays a

broad variety of historical

artifacts and images. The

museum has now undergone

a complete make over and has

embraced the moving image

by incorpor ating the Antwerp

Film Museum. The latter

offers regularly scheduled film

viewings. In addition to its

extensive per manent collec-

tion, the museum mounts a

series of photo graphy exhibi-

tions that feature both local

and inter national artists.

Stained-glass window in St-Jacobskerk

Fishmarket Antwerp

at the Rockoxhuis

E Museum Mayer

van den Bergh

Lange Gasthuisstraat 19. Tel (03)

2324237. 
         

         10am–5pm Tue–Sun

         
         

         and Easter Mon. & http://museum.
         antwerpen.be/mayervandenbergh
         Fritz Mayer van den Bergh
         (1858–91) was the scion of
         a wealthy trad ing family, but

         
         

E Koninklijk Museum voor

Schone Kunsten

See pp152–3.

items now on view in a series
of rooms that includes furni-
ture, paintings, sculpture,
silver ware, pottery, needle-
work and porridge bowls, all
belonging to the orphan age,
or bequeathed to it. There
is also a reproduction of the
original found ling drawer that
used to be in Rochusstraat.

behind the high altar, displays

his paint ing of Our Lady and

the Christ Child Surrounded

by Saints, into which the

artist inserted the faces of

himself and his fam ily.

The rich interior of St-

Jacobskerk contains the

tombs of several notable

Antwerp families, and

a fine col lec tion of

17th-century art that

includes sculp tures

by Verbruggen as

well as paintings

by van Dyck, Otto

Venius – who was

Rubens’s first master – and

Jacob Jordaens (see p103).

instead of following in

his fath er’s footsteps, he

devoted himself to collect-

ing works of art. After his

death at the young age of

33, his mother created this

museum to display his col-

lections. Among the many

treasures on display here

are tapestries, fur niture,

ivory carvings, medieval

and Renaissance sculp-

ture, stained glass, and

a number of excellent

paintings. In particular,

Dulle Griet (Mad Meg) is

a powerful image of a

chaotic world, painted in

1562 by Pieter Brueghel

the Elder (see p103).