concurrent causes, some of them strangely artificial, which long
distracted trade from one of its most natural outlets in Europe. The
Spanish troops began the devastation, during the abortive attempt of the
southern provinces to shake off the yoke of Spain; in 1576, the Town
Hall and nearly a thousand noble buildings were burnt, while 8,000
people were ruthlessly massacred. In 1585, the Duke of Parma completed
the destruction of the local prosperity: the population was largely
scattered, and the trade of Antwerp completely ruined. The long and
unsuccessful rebellion, the division which it unhappily caused between
Holland and Belgium, and the rapid commercial rise, first of Amsterdam
and then of England, all contributed to annihilate the mercantile
importance of Antwerp. The Dutch erected forts on their own territory at
the mouth of the Schelde, and refused to allow shipping to proceed up
the river. Finally by the Treaty of Munster in 1648 it was agreed that
no sea-going vessel should be allowed to ascend the estuary to Antwerp,
but that all ships should unload at a Dutch port, goods being forwarded
by river craft to the former capital of European commerce. From that
date forward to the French occupation in 1794, Antwerp sank to the
position of a mere local centre, while Rotterdam and Amsterdam took its
place as commercial cities. In the latter year, however, the French
reopened the navigation of the Schelde, and destroyed the iniquitous
Dutch forts at the entrance to the river. Napoleon, in whose empire the
town was included, constructed a harbour and built new quays; but after
his fall, Antwerp was made over to Holland, and began to trade as a
Dutch seaport. The erection of Belgium into a separate kingdom in 1830
again told against it, as the Dutch maintained their unjust power of
levying tolls on the shipping; in addition to which drawback, Antwerp
had suffered heavily from siege during the War of Independence. In 1863,
however, the Dutch extortioners were bought off by a heavy money
payment, and Antwerp, the natural outlet of the Schelde, and to a great
extent of the German empire, once more regained its natural place as a
main commercial port of Europe. Since that date, its rise has been
extraordinarily rapid, in correspondence with the large development of
Belgian manufactures and still more with the new position of Germany as
a world-trading power. Indeed, nothing but the artificial restrictions
placed upon its commerce by the selfishness and injustice of the Dutch
could ever have prevented the seaport of the Schelde from ranking as one
of the chief harbours of the world, as soon as ocean-going ships
demanded ports of that size, and as commerce had no longer anything to
fear from marauding pirates.
As a consequence of these conditions, we have to expect in Antwerp
mainly =a central town of the 15th and 16th centuries=, with an immense
=modern outgrowth= of very recent origin. Save its fine Cathedral, and
its imported pictures, it has little or nothing of mediæval interest.
The =population= of Antwerp is almost entirely =Flemish=, though French
is the language of the higher commerce; and the town is the stronghold
of the old Flemish feeling in Belgium, as opposed to the Parisian tone
of Brussels.
Concurrently with the rise of its renewed commercial importance, Antwerp
has become once more =a centre of Belgian art=, and especially of the
pure Flemish school of _archaists_, who have chosen their subjects from
Flemish history, and followed to some extent the precedents of the early
Flemish painters. Examples of these will meet us later.
Choose an =hotel= on the =Place Verte=, if possible, or at least very
near it. You cannot gain a first impression of Antwerp in less than four
or five days.
Antwerp is a confused town, a maze without a plan: till you have learnt
your way about, I advise you to =follow the tram-lines=: you will thus
avoid the slummy streets which abound even in the best quarter.
_B_. THE CATHEDRAL
[The first thing to see at Antwerp is the High Church of Our
Lady, once the =Cathedral=, and still commonly so called, though
it is not now a bishop’s see, but part of the diocese of
Malines. It is a fine early and middle Gothic church, with a
late Gothic or flamboyant tower; but, relatively to its fame, it
is externally disappointing. This is partly because mean houses
have been allowed to gather round it, but partly also because
its somewhat meretricious spire has been unduly praised by
earlier generations. Modern taste, which admires the simpler and
severer early forms of Gothic, finds it fantastic and
over-elaborate.]
The =Place Verte= opposite the Cathedral (once the churchyard), is
planted with trees, and has its centre occupied by a modern statue of
Rubens. This is one of the few points from which you can view (more or
less) the =exterior= of the Cathedral, the greater part of which is
obstructed by shabby shops clustered round its base. The only really
good views, however, are obtained from the second-floor windows of the
houses on the E. side of the Square, such as the Hôtel de l’Europe.
Nevertheless, it will be well to walk round the building outside, in
order to inspect as much of it as is visible.
The chief =portal= (practically), recently restored, and the =S.
Transept= are seen from the Place Verte. There is little sculpture on
them, save a small late figure of the patroness, Our Lady, with the
Child, high up between the angels of the gable-end.
Now, go round to the L., into the little triangular Place known as the
Marché aux Gants, to view the main =West Front=, best seen from the apex
of the triangle opposite. It has a fine central Portal and West Window,
flanked by two great towers, the southern incomplete. Its niches have
statues of six only out of the Twelve Apostles. The =northern tower=, up
to the first gallery, is middle Gothic of 1352-1449. The upper portion,
with the octagonal lantern of very open work, flanked by projecting
pinnacles, tied by small buttresses, is in later flamboyant Gothic, and
was erected in 1502-1518, by Dominic de Waghamakere, the architect of
the Gothic portion of the Town Hall at Ghent. This florid spire has been
excessively praised above its merits, but will hardly satisfy a modern
taste. It can be ascended (75 c.), but is dark and steep: the view,
though fine, hardly repays the trouble.
The =well= in the Marché aux Gants, near the front of the Cathedral, has
a beautiful wrought-iron canopy, to support its lid, said to have been
made by Quentin Matsys when he was a blacksmith, or rather a
metal-worker, before he took to painting. (But the legend is doubtful.)
It consists of a trellis of vine, supporting wild men and women with
clubs, and capped by a figure of Brabo, the eponymous hero of Brabant,
flinging the hand of the giant Antigonus (see later, under the
Hôtel-de-Ville).
Now, continue on round the =N. Side= of the Cathedral. A few glimpses of
the =N. Transept= and Aisles, as well as of the Nave and Choir, may be
obtained as we proceed, much of it unfortunately now marred by excessive
restoration. The beautiful Choir and Apse, with their flying buttresses,
are almost entirely concealed by neighbouring houses. If these were
cleared away, a fine view would be obtained of a noble piece of
architecture, now only visible by occasional glimpses from the upper
floors of surrounding houses. This portion of the church is further
disfigured by the abrupt terminations to the roofs of the Transepts, and
by the ridiculous pepper-caster top which replaces the central spire or
_flèche_ of the original conception. Continue on through the narrow
streets till you have made a complete tour of the Cathedral and returned
to the Place Verte and the door of the =S. Transept=. The best general
view, however, is not obtainable from any of these points, but from the
Grand’ Place, and especially the upper windows of the Hôtel-de-Ville, to
be visited later.
Now, enter the Cathedral, by the door in the S. Transept. (Open, free,
from 8 to 12 on Sundays and Thursdays: or, every day, 12 to 4, on
payment of 1 franc per person. But if you wish really to inspect the
works of art it contains, pay your franc like a man, and see them at
your leisure when there are no services in progress. Fine music at High
Mass at 10 on Sundays.)
The =interior= is impressive and solemn, with its high Nave, Transepts,
and Choir, of good simple Gothic, and its _three_ rows of Aisles, the
perspective of which, with their many pillars, is extremely striking.
The Aisles, however, are unusually low in proportion to the height of
the central cruciform building. First walk down the Nave to the West
End, to form a general conception of the fine and impressive interior,
grand in its colossal simplicity, and commendably free from 18th century
disfigurements.
Now, begin at the =R. or S. Aisle=, which contains admirable modern
Stations of the Cross by Vinck and Hendrickx, excellently painted in the
archaic spirit. I do not describe these, as they need no explanation,
but each is worthy of individual attention. Do not hurry.
The _Chapel of the Sacrament_, at the end of this Aisle, has good
polychrome decoration, and fine stained glass windows (Last Supper,
1503: St. Amand converting Antwerp; St. Norbert preaching against the
heresy of Tanquelin at Antwerp, etc.): also, a reliquary of St. Roch,
and an interesting modern statue of that great plague-saint.
The =S. Transept= has a good modern stained glass window, and affords
fine views of the central Dome and Aisles.
On the _R. wall_ are the Marriage at Cana in Galilee, appropriately
painted for the Altar of the Wine-merchants, by M. de Vos (excellent for
comparison with others of the same subject), and a Last Supper by Otto
van Veen, the master of Rubens, formerly the Altar-piece of the Chapel
of the Sacrament.
The _L. wall_ of the S. Transept is occupied by =Rubens’s= great
=triptych of St. Christopher=, commonly called (from its central
portion) =**The Descent from the Cross=. This is a splendid work,
conceived (as to idea) in the mystical spirit of old Flemish art, though
carried out, of course, in the utterly different and incongruous style
of Rubens. In order to understand it we must remember that _triptychs
were usually kept closed on the altar_, and that the picture which first
met the eye was that which occupies the outer shutters. It struck the
key-note. Now, the outer shutters of this work (seldom seen, unless you
ask the Sacristan to close it) are occupied by a figure of St.
Christopher, with the hermit who directed him to Christ, accompanied by
his lantern and owl, as in the earlier St. Christopher triptych by
Memling in the Academy at Bruges. This painting was ordered from Rubens
by the Guild of Arquebusiers, whose patron is St. Christopher. On the
outside, therefore, Rubens painted the saint himself, whose name (of
course) means the Christ-Bearer. But on the inner portion he painted
three other symbolical or allusive scenes of the Bearing of Christ:
_L._, The Visitation; the unborn Christ borne by His mother: _R._, The
Presentation in the Temple; the living Christ borne by Simeon: _Centre_,
The Descent from the Cross; the dead Christ borne by Joseph of Arimathea
and the Disciples.
The _L. wing_ shows us Our Lady, in a big Flemish hat, approaching St.
Elizabeth. Behind, Joseph and Zacharias, the two husbands, shake hands.
(This composition has been copied in the stained glass window of the
Cathedral at Antwerp.) In order to impress the mystical meaning of the
picture, the fact of Our Lady’s pregnancy has been strongly insisted
upon.
The _central panel_ shows us the Descent from the Cross. Nicodemus holds
the body by one shoulder, while St. John, below, receives it in his
arms, and the Magdalen at the feet expresses her tenderness. Joseph of
Arimathea descends the ladder. The actual corpse forms the salient point
in the picture. It is usual to say that the contrast of the dead body
and white sheet is borrowed from the famous treatment of the same
subject by Daniele da Volterra in Santa Trinità de’ Monti at Rome; and
indeed, the composition in this work has probably been suggested by the
Italian example; but a similar white sheet, with the dead body seen
against it, is found in all early Flemish art, and especially in works
of the School of Roger van der Weyden. (It is known as the Holy
Sudarium.) In this splendid and gorgeous conception, Rubens has given
the greatest importance to the body of the Saviour; but he is so
intensely occupied with the mechanical difficulties of its support, the
strain and stress of the dead weight, that he forgets feeling; in spite
of the agonised attitude of the Mater Dolorosa, the picture is sadly
lacking in pathos. He realizes the scene as to its material facts; he
fails to realize its spiritual significance. (For an opposite opinion,
see M. Max Rooses, who speaks of “the profound expression of a tender
and respectful love.”) To my mind, the man who holds the Sudarium in his
teeth is a fault of taste of the most flagrant character. We think of
the whole work rather as a wonderful piece of art than as the fitting
delineation of a sacred subject. But as art it is triumphant. The faces
of the St. John and the Magdalen are also charming.
The _R. wing_, with the Presentation, and the aged Simeon receiving
Christ in his arms, is of less interest.
Next, enter the =Ambulatory=, behind the Choir.
_1st Chapel._ Good modern stained glass window of the Pietà.
_2nd Chapel._ Tomb of =John Moretus=, the son-in-law of Plantin, the
famous printer (see after, under Musée Plantin-Moretus) erected by
Martina Plantin, his widow, and with pictures by =Rubens=. Above, in an
oval, portrait of John Moretus (by a pupil, re-touched by Rubens).
Below, triptych; _centre_, *The Resurrection, emblematic of hope for his
glorious future. _L. wing_, his patron, St. John-Baptist; _R. wing_, his
widow’s patroness, St. Martina. This triptych, too, loses by not being
first seen _closed_: on the outside are two angels, about to open a
door; as the wings unfold, you behold the luminous figure of the risen
Christ, grasping the red Resurrection banner. This figure is celebrated.
The dismay of the Roman soldiers is conceived in the thorough Rubens
spirit. Observe the arrangement of this triptych on the tomb: it will
help you to understand others in the Museum.
Opposite this, Tomb of a Premonstratensian Friar, with St. Norbert,
founder of the Order, in adoration, by Pepyn.
This chapel is also one of the best points of view for Rubens’s famous
=**Assumption=, above the High Altar. We here see one of these great
altar-pieces (of which we shall meet many examples in the Museum) placed
in the situation for which it was originally designed. This Assumption
ranks as one of Rubens’s masterpieces. Above, Our Lady is caught up into
the air by a circle of little cherubs, dimly recalling the earlier
Italian mandorla. Below, stand the Apostles, looking into the empty
tomb, with the youthful figure of St. Thomas stretching out his hands in
an attitude derived from the Italian subject of the Sacra Cintola. In
the centre of the foreground, the Holy Women, about to pick roses from
the empty tomb. (See a similar work in the Brussels Museum. This
composition can only be understood by the light of earlier Italian
examples.)
On the pier between this and the next chapel, Crucifixion, with Scenes
from the Passion.
_3rd Chapel._ Master of the School of Cologne, 14th century. A Glory of
the Angels. In the centre, St. Michael the Archangel slaying a dragon,
whose double tongue divides into many heads of kings. R. and L., the
insignificant donor and donatrix. On either side, choirs of angels in
hierarchies. Above, Christ enthroned in a mandorla (almond-shaped halo)
worshipped by angels. Beneath, in the predella, St. Stephen with his
stone; St. Ursula with bow and arrow; St. Peter (keys); a Pietà; St.
John the Evangelist; St. Agnes with her ruby ring; and St. Anthony the
Abbot with his staff and bell. A good picture of the school from which
Van Eyck was a reaction. Opposite it, Tomb of Bishop Ambrosio Capello,
by Arthus Quellin, the only one remaining tomb of a bishop in the
Cathedral.
_4th Chapel._ Good 16th century figure of Our Lady and Child. Tomb of
Plantin, with Last Judgment by De Backer.
_5th Chapel._ Beautiful modern archaic altar-piece of St. Barbara.
_6th Chapel._ Nothing of special interest, though in all these chapels
the stained-glass windows and polychromatic decorations are worthy of
notice.
Opposite it, on the back of the High Altar, painted imitations of
reliefs by Van Bree: an extraordinary illusion; Annunciation, Marriage
of the Virgin, Visitation. In front of these, Tomb of Isabella of
Bourbon, wife of Charles the Bold, and mother of Mary of Burgundy.
Altar-back, Death of the Virgin, 17th cent.
_7th Chapel._ Good modern archaic altar-piece, with a miracle of St.
John Berchman. The saints are named on it.
_8th Chapel._ Tolerable modern archaic altar-piece of Our Lady and
Child, with donors and saints.
On the pier, between this and the next chapel, School of Roger van der
Weyden, Selection of Joseph as the husband of the Virgin, and Marriage
of the Virgin; a good picture.
_9th Chapel_, of St. Joseph, patron saint of Belgium, and therefore
honoured with this larger shrine. On the Altar, modern carved and gilt
altar-piece, St. Joseph bearing the Infant Christ. Around it, Scenes
from his Life. L. (beginning below), Marriage of the Virgin and Joseph,
Nativity, Presentation in the Temple; R. (beginning above), Flight into
Egypt, Finding of Christ in the Temple, the Holy Carpenter’s Shop.
Centre, Death of St. Joseph. On the wings, R., Philip IV. dedicating
Belgium to St. Joseph; L., Pius IX., accompanied by St. Peter,
appointing Joseph patron saint of Belgium.
Now enter the =N. Transept=.
_R. wall._ Rubens’s famous *Elevation of the Cross. In form a triptych,
but with the same subject continued through its three members. _Centre_,
The Elevation: _L._, St. John, the Mater Dolorosa, and the Holy Women:
_R._, Longinus and the soldiers, with the two thieves. This is one of
Rubens’s most bustling pictures, where the mere muscular effort almost
wholly chokes the sense of pathos. The dog in the foreground is an
exceptionally unhappy later addition by the master. The tone of colour
is brown and cold; the work is mainly painted for light and shade. It
was formerly the altar-piece in the Church of St. Walburga, who appears
with other saints on the outer shutters.
This Transept also contains stained glass of the 17th century.
On the _L. wall_ is a triptych by Francken: _Centre_, Christ among the
Doctors, said to be portraits of the Reformers. _L. wing_, St. Ambrose
baptizing Augustine, with the donor, kneeling. _R. wing_, Elijah causing
the widow’s cruse of oil to be replenished.
The _Chapel_ in the N. Transept has nothing of interest.
Now, enter the =Choir=, with good modern carved stalls, and a different
but less impressive view of Rubens’s Assumption.
The =N. Aisle= has little of interest, save its stained-glass windows,
and a Head of Christ, painted on marble, ascribed to Leonardo, but
really of Flemish origin. This is affixed to the first pillar of the
_Lady Chapel_. Further on in the Aisle, confessionals with tolerable
wood-carvings.
The =Nave= has the usual overloaded 17th century _pulpit_, with Europe,
Asia, Africa, and America.
I have only briefly enumerated the principal contents; but you will find
much more that is interesting for yourself if you spend an hour or two
longer in examining the Cathedral.
_C_. THE PICTURE GALLERY
[The chief object of interest at Antwerp, even more important
than the Cathedral itself, is the =Picture Gallery=, regally
housed in a magnificent Museum at the S. end of the town. The
building alone might make Trafalgar Square blush, if Trafalgar
Square had a blush left in it. To this collection you should
devote at least two or three mornings.
[Illustration: THE PICTURE GALLERY, ANTWERP.
Modern Pictures in the Rooms marked with an Italic capital.]
The Antwerp Gallery contains in its palatial rooms a large
number of =Flemish pictures=, many of them collected from the
suppressed Churches and Monasteries of the city. (Remember that
they were painted for such situations, not to be seen in
Museums.) You will here have an opportunity of observing a few
good pictures of the =early Flemish School=, and especially of
improving your slight acquaintance with =Roger van der Weyden=,
one of whose loveliest works is preserved in the gallery. You
will also see at least one admirable example of =Quentin
Matsys=, as well as several fine works of the Transitional
School between the early and the later Flemish periods.
But the special glory of the Antwerp Museum is its great
collection of =Rubenses=. It is at Antwerp alone, indeed, that
you can begin to grasp the greatness of Rubens, as you may grasp
it afterwards at Munich and Vienna. I do not say you will love
him: I will not pretend to love him myself: but you may at least
understand him. This, then, is the proper place in which to
consider briefly the position of Rubens in Flemish Art.
From the days of the Van Eycks to those of Gerard David,
painting in the Low Countries had followed a strictly _national_
line of development. Its growth was organic and internal. With
Quentin Matsys, and still more with Bernard van Orley, Pourbus,
and the rest, the influence of the _Italian Renaissance_ had
begun to interfere with the native current of art in the Low
Countries. It was Rubens who finally transformed Flemish
painting by adopting to a certain extent the grandiose style of
the later Italian and especially the Venetian Masters, at the
same time that he transfused it with local feeling and with the
private mark of his own superabundant and vigorous
individuality.
=Rubens= was =an Antwerp man=, by descent and education, though
accidentally born at Siegen in Nassau. His father was an Antwerp
justice of an important family, exiled for supposed Calvinistic
leanings, and disgraced for an intrigue with a royal lady, Anna
of Saxony, the eccentric wife of William of Orange. A gentleman
by birth and breeding, Peter Paul Rubens painted throughout life
in the spirit of a generous, luxurious aristocrat. His master
was Otto van Veen, Court Painter to the Dukes of Parma, and
himself an Italianised Flemish artist, whose work is amply
represented in the Museum. Early in life, Rubens =travelled in
Italy=, where he imbibed to a great extent the prevailing tone
of Italian art, as represented by Titian, Veronese, and to a
less extent, Tintoretto, as well as by Domenichino and the later
Roman School of painters. To these influences we must add the
subtler effect of the general spirit of the late 16th and early
17th centuries, the age when voyages to America and to India,
and the sudden opening of the Atlantic seaboard, had caused in
men’s minds a great ferment of opinion and given rise to a new
outburst of activity and struggle. Romance was rife. The world
was turned upside down. It was the day of Spanish supremacy, the
day when the gold and silver of the Indies poured in vast sums
into Madrid and the Low Countries. The Mediterranean had given
way to the Atlantic, Venice to Antwerp. In England, this age
gave us the rich and varied Elizabethan literature; in the Low
Countries, it gave us the highly analogous and profusely lavish
art of the School of Rubens.
Rubens lived his life throughout on =a big scale=. He travelled
much. He was statesman and diplomatist as well as painter. He
moved from Paris to London, from Madrid to Mantua. All these
things give a tone to his art. He is large, spacious, airy,
voluptuous. He has a bold self-confidence, a prodigal freedom,
an easy opulence. He delights in colossal figures, in regal
costume, in court dresses and feathers,—the romance and
pageantry of the royal world he lived in. Space seems to swell
and soar on his canvas. Vast marble halls with huge pillars and
lofty steps are the architectural background in which his soul
delights. His outlines are too flowing to be curbed into stiff
correctness. His sturdy Flemish nature, again, comes out in the
full and fleshy figures, the florid cheeks, and the abundant
fair hair of his female characters. All scenes alike, however
sacred, are for him just opportunities for the display of
sensuous personal charm, enlivened by rich costume or wealthy
accessories. Yet in his large romantic way he is doing for
cosmopolitan mercantile Antwerp in the 17th century what Van
Eyck and Memling did for cosmopolitan Ghent and Bruges in the
15th.
One more peculiarity of his art must be mentioned. The early
painters, as we saw in the St. Ursula casket, had little sense
of real dramatic life and movement. Rubens had learned to admire
this quality in his Venetian masters, and he bettered their
instruction with Flemish force and with the =stir and bustle= of
a big seaport town in an epoch of development. His pictures are
full, not merely of life, but of strain, stress, turmoil. It is
more than animation—it is noise, it is tumult. He often forgets
the sacredness of a scene by emphasizing too much the muscular
action and the violent movement of those who participate in it.
This is particularly noticeable in the Descent from the Cross in
the Cathedral, and still more in the famous Coup de Lance at the
Museum.
The astonishing number of pictures which Rubens has left may be
accounted for in part by his incredible rapidity of
execution—he dashed off a huge picture in a fortnight,—but in
part also by the fact that he was largely assisted by a numerous
body of pupils. Of these, =Van Dyck= was by far the most
individual, the tenderest, the most refined: and not a few of
his stately and touching masterpieces may here be studied.
The =Dutch School= is also represented by several excellent
small pictures.
Of alien art, there are a few fine pieces by =Early Italian=
artists.]
The =entrance door= is under the great portico on the west front, facing
the river. Open daily, 9 or 10 to 4 or 5, 1 fr. per person: free on
Sundays. (Inquire hours of hotel porter.)
You pass from the Vestibule (sticks and umbrellas left) into a Hall and
Staircase of palatial dimensions, admirably decorated with fine modern
paintings by N. De Keyser, of Antwerp, representing the Arts and Artists
of the city, the influence upon them of Italian masters, and the
recognition extended to their work in London, Paris, Rome, Bologna,
Amsterdam, and Vienna. I do not describe these excellent pictures, as
the inscriptions upon them sufficiently indicate their meaning, but they
are well worth your careful attention.