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The Golden Cabinet
ROYAL MUSEUM AT THE ROCKOX HOUSE
From 2 February 2013, the Rockox House collection will be enhanced by the presence of top
pieces from the Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts, which is closed for renovation and
rebuilding. This is being taken as an occasion to transform the Keizerstraat residence of Nicolaas
Rockox (1560–1640), burgomaster of Antwerp and patron, into a ‘Golden Cabinet’, in order to
give a notion of how a rich Antwerp art collection of the Golden Century must have appeared.
The fact that the two museums have joined forces is no coincidence, since both are the result of
avid collection over time.
Royal Museum of Fine Arts,
Antwerp
The Royal Museum has its roots in the art
collection of the Guild of St. Luke, an artists’
association that went back to the fourteenth
century. In 1663, David Teniers II, a former
dean of the guild, established the Antwerp
Academy, and it was to the Academy that, on
the dissolution of the guilds at the end of the
eighteenth century, the Guild of St. Luke’s rich
collection of works of art passed. Under the
French occupation, the monastic orders were
abolished and the Academy was transferred
to the empty buildings of the monastery of
the Recollects in Antwerp. The Church of the
Recollects was fitted out as a Museum of Fine
Arts, and was also used as a store for the works
of art stolen from churches and monasteries
by French troops and returned to Antwerp
around 1815. The collection of the Museum of
Fine Arts was subsequently enriched through
important donations and legacies. In 1890, the
museum moved to the city’s newly laid out Zuid
(South) quarter. Now, a hundred and twenty
years later, this temple of the arts is temporarily
closing its doors in order to secure the future of
the building and the collection.
Nicolaas Rockox. Who was he?
Nicolaas Rockox (Antwerp, 1560–1640) was
born into a wealthy, bourgeois family and studied law at Leuven, Paris and Douai. During the
first half of the seventeenth century, he played
a highly important part in the political, artistic
and social life of his city, occupying several positions of responsibility, among them as alderman
and burgomaster. He married Adriana Perez,
scion of an old and wealthy merchant family of
Spanish origin, but the couple remained childless. He also gained an exceptional reputation
as a patron, antiquarian, humanist and numis-
matist, Moreover, he was instrumental in the
success enjoyed by Rubens during the second
decade of the seventeenth century, commissioning a number of important works from
this great master of the Baroque. One of the
works that, as burgomaster, he commissioned
Rubens to paint was the Adoration of the Magi
(Prado, Madrid) for the Antwerp Town Hall.
In his capacity of Master of the Arquebusiers’
Guild, he also commissioned Rubens to paint
the famous Deposition for the guild’s altar
in Antwerp’s cathedral. His private commissions to Rubens included his tomb memorial,
the triptych Christ and St. Thomas (Antwerp
Royal Museum of Fine Arts). The memory of
this important, seventeenth-century patrician is
kept alive today in the evocation of his burgomaster’s residence in Antwerp. The house was
restored in the 1970s at the instigation of KBC
and has been open to the public since 1977.
The Golden Cabinet
The name given to this joint project, ‘The
Golden Cabinet’, refers to the title of the
famous work Het Gulden Cabinet van de
Edel Vry Schilderconst by Cornelis de Bie
(1627–1715), a rhetorician from the Southern
Netherlands; in three volumes, it is a collection
of biographies of painters from those parts and
includes engraved portraits of them. For our
‘Golden Cabinet’ in the Rockox House, we have
assembled top works from the art of Western
Europe from the fourteenth to and including
the seventeenth century. A painted ‘Art Gallery’
by Frans Francken II (1581–1642), which is from
the collection of the Royal Museum, forms the
point of departure of this project. Francken
invented this genre and Rockox commissioned
a painting of his own art gallery from him; a
beautiful impression, it now hangs in the Alte
Pinakothek in Munich.
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Rooms 1 and 2
A late-mediaeval cabinet
The Royal Museum has a unique collection of late-mediaeval art, the most important pieces of
which will be exhibited alternately in these rooms. That collection is also a tribute to Florent
Joseph, knight of Ertborn (Antwerp 1784 – The Hague 1840), who, just as Nicolaas Rockox, was
a former burgomaster of Antwerp and a keen-eyed collector. Rockox collected both Renaissance
art and the contemporary art of his time. Van Ertborn concentrated on late-mediaeval art and in
1840 donated no less than 141 items from his collection to the Royal Museum.
The Middle Ages extended over long period of nearly 1 000 years, from the Fall of the Western
Roman Empire (A.D. 476) to the Renaissance (ca. 1400/1500). The era was dominated by the
teachings of the Christian Church and by a social order of great contradictions, represented by,
on the one hand, the nobility and the humanists, and, on the other, the servile peasant classes.
This picture was reflected to the full in the art of the time. During the Middle Ages, the greater
part of the iconography of the pictorial arts consisted of religious subjects and portraits. First to
herald the Renaissance were Italian artists, with their addition of a three-dimensional effect in
their painting, and their introduction of expression in the figuration.
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Jean-Baptist Greuze (Tournus 1725 – Paris 1805)
Portrait of Florent Joseph, Knight of Ertborn
Antwerp, private collection
(until the end of 2013)
This brilliant portrait – characteristic of the artist’s work
– shows Florent van Ertborn at the age of twenty, and
was painted towards the end of Greuze’s life. Greuze was
a successful French painter of bourgeois portraits, religious scenes and genre pieces. The style he worked in was
chiefly Rococo, though it became more moralising after
his two years in Italy.
Jozef Geefs (Antwerp 1808 – Brussels 1885)
Portrait Bust of Florent van Ertborn
1849
Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts inv. 1067
In 1849, the Antwerp city council commissioned the sculptor Jozef Geefs to make this bust of the patron for the
Royal Museum. Geefs was a student of and later a lecturer
in sculpture and anatomy at the Antwerp Royal Academy
of Fine Arts, of which he became director in 1876.
Simone Martini (Siena 1284 – Avignon 1344)
Orsini Polyptych
Ca. 1335
Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts inv. 257-260
These four scenes with a gold background were originally
part of a six-scene portable altar. The panels with the archangel Gabriel and Mary probably formed the front of the
double-sided doors of the polyptych. At some time in the
past both these panels were split. The Carrying of the Cross
and The Laying in the Tomb, which were originally on the
inner faces of the double-sided panels, are now housed
in respectively the Louvre, Paris, and the Gemäldegalerie,
Berlin. The remaining two panels depicting The Crucifixion
and The Deposition, shown here on the right, must have
originally formed the two central panels. Martini painted
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the altar for Cardinal Napoleone Orsini (1263–1342),
who was active at Avignon as a diplomat during the pontificates of Popes Clement V and John XXII. The cardinal is
depicted below in The Deposition. The panels discussed
here are masterpieces of early Sienese painting and were
purchased by van Ertborn in 1826 from the Chartreuse de
Champmol, close by Dijon.
Antonello da Messina (Messina 1430 – 1479)
Calvary
Dated and signed 1475 / Antonellus messaneus / me.pinxit.
The crucified Christ is flanked by the good and the bad
thief. On the ground below, Mary and John mourn. The
skull in the foreground is a reference to Adam, who was
believed to be buried at Golgotha. The painting contains
many symbols of death and redemption. Among them, the
owl refers to sinners who turn away from the true faith;
the snake curling through the skull is symbolic of death
and the devil. In this masterpiece, the Sicilian artist unites
the northern technique of painting in oils and the Flemish
sense of detail with the southern attention to synthesis and
composition. Da Messina, an Italian Renaissance painter,
stayed in Flanders from 1457 to 1460. The painting was
purchased in 1826 by professor Van Rotterdam from the
Ghent Maelscamp van Balsberge family and sold by him to
Florent van Ertborn.
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Jean Fouquet (Tours 1420 – 1471)
Madonna surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim
This famous ‘Madonna’ is a part of a diptych that also
features a portrait of Etienne Chevalier with St. Stephen
(Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). Until the French Revolution, the
diptych hung above the tomb of Chevalier’s wife in the
Church of Notre Dame de Melun. The contrast of the red
and blue of the Seraphim and Cherubim with the milkwhite skin of the Madonna and Child creates an illusory
effect. Maria is said to have the features of Agnes Sorel,
the mistress of the French king Charles VII. The historian
Johan Huizinga felt that the painting reflected ‘decadent
godlessness’ and ‘blasphemous candour’. The surrealists, on the other hand, elevated the ‘fashion doll … with
spherical breasts’ to a world-renowned icon. Fouquet is
the figurehead of the French school of painting, and his
style is reminiscent of the paintings of the van Eyck brothers and of the Florentine Renaissance painting that he had
become acquainted with in Italy.
Jan van Eyck (Maaseik ca.1390 – Bruges 1441)
Saint Barbara of Nicodemia
Signed and dated on the original frame:
IOH[ANN]ES DE EYCK ME FECIT 1437
Together with Rogier van der Weyden, Jan van Eyck is one
of the giants among the Flemish Primitives. Barbara was
the only daughter of a pagan Syrian noble who confined
her to a tower to prevent anyone looking on her. He was
angered by her conversion to Christianity and had her
tortured, but to no avail; during the night, her injuries
healed miraculously. Ultimately, he beheaded her, upon
which the earth began to quake and he was struck by
lightning. Here, Barbara is modestly leafing through a
prayer-book, her left hand holding a palm branch. Behind
her rises a Gothic church tower. Van Eyck seized upon the
subject to depict a contemporary construction site. Art
biographer Van Mander describes the work as ‘under5
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painting’. It is the oldest surviving, uncompleted panel
in the painting of The Netherlands and has been in the
collections of Lucas de Heere (sixteenth-century Flemish
painter and writer), Johannes Enschede, J. Cornelis Ploos
van Amstel and Florent van Ertborn.
Jan van Eyck (Maaseik ca.1390 – Bruges 1441)
Madonna at the Fountain
Signed and dated on the original frame: ALS (ICH) XAN en
IOH[ANN]ES DE EYCK ME FECIT ET [COM]PLEVIT ANO 1439
(from May 2013)
In an enclosed garden (hortus conclusus) with luxuriant
vegetation, Mary with the Christ Child stands in front of a
richly brocaded fabric held up by two angels. Mother and
child display their affection for each other: Christ is caressing
Mary’s neck with his right hand, while she looks lovingly at
him. It was in Mary that the faithful in late mediaeval times
sought refuge, as a child does with its mother. Between
approximately 1516/1523, this gem was probably in the
possession of Margaret of Austria. In 1838, van Ertborn
bought it from the priest of the village of Dikkelvenne.
Rogier van der Weyden
(Doornik 1399/1400 – Brussels 1464)
Philippe de Croy
Ca 1460
(September 2013 to January 2014: Huntington L.A.)
This portrait forms the right-hand panel of a diptych
whose left-hand panel is now in San Marino, California.
Between his folded hands, the young man holds a rosary
with a small cross. Two inscriptions and a blazon on the
back of the work identify the figure as Philippe de Croy
(1434–1482), a rising star at the court of Philip the Good.
He was for a time High Bailiff of Hainaut and after the
death of his father in 1473 became Count of Chimay.
Following the death of his mother in 1461, he inherited
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the title of Lord of Quiévrain, whereupon he relinquished
his title of Lord of Sempy to his brother. Because this
last title is mentioned on the painting, the work must
date from before 1461. The painting was bought by van
Ertborn in 1825 from a castle in the environs of Namur.
Atelier of Rogier van der Weyden
Annunciation
(from May 2013)
In the bedroom of a middle-class home, Mary kneels
before a bench on which she is resting an open breviary.
The winged archangel Gabriel breaks her concentration
and brings the Divine message. In the left foreground is a
vase with white lilies, the symbol of Mary’s virginity. This is
a painting with the precision of a miniature. The compos
ition is akin to two other, larger-scale ‘Annunciations’ by
van der Weyden: a first (ca. 1455) on the left-hand panel of
the Columba altarpiece in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich
and the second (1465/70) that the artist painted for Ferry
de Clugny and which is in the Metropolitan Museum in
New York.
Attributed to Rogier van der Weyden
Portrait of a Tournament Judge
(from July 2013)
The man depicted here holding a large arrow in his hand
is thought by some to be Jean Lefèvre de Saint-Remy, the
first King-of-Arms of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The
same man appears in three of van der Weyden’s other
works. The persons portrayed on other fifteenth-century
portraits also hold an arrow, which was the attribute of
the tournament judge.
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Anonymous, Augsburg (late sixteenth century)
Wall clock
Rockox House inv. 79.4
The clock has just a single hand and strikes the hours. The
mechanism is controlled by a foliot device (tumbler) and
is of Augsburg origin. The engravings with astronomy as
the motif betray an Antwerp influence. The clock has a
homely feel.
Hans Memling (Seligenstad 1423/43 – Bruges 1494)
Man with a Roman Coin
Ca. 1473
(from May to September 2013)
This middle-aged man regards us with a somewhat
dreamy expression. He is holding a Roman coin in his
hand, a sestertius of Emperor Nero. Below middle are
two laurel leaves which were probably continued onto the
original frame, which is now lost. A vista draws our eye to
a rider in an idyllic landscape with a palm tree and with
swans in a lake. Memling was one of the first artists to
use the landscape as background for a portrait. It is not
known for certain who the person portrayed here is, but it
is thought to be the Venetian humanist Bernardo Bembo
(1433–1519), who had an important collection of paintings and antique coins. Van Ertborn bought the painting
in 1826 at the auction held by baron Vivant Denon, the
man who co-ordinated the art transports of Napoleon.
Nicolaas Rockox, too, had a sestertius (bronze) of Emperor
Nero in his collection. It is likely that Memling was
an apprentice to van der Weyden. In any case, he was
enrolled in the Guild of St. Luke in Bruges in 1476 and set
the art of portrait painting on a new path.
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Master of Frankfurt (Antwerp 1460 – 1515/25)
The Painter and His Wife
The Master of Frankfurt was the first major painter active
in Antwerp. His real name remains unknown. The invented
name given him concerns two paintings from his hand
(from 1503 and 1506 respectively), which are to be found
in the German town of Frankfurt. This small painting is
said to be a self-portrait of the artist in the company of his
wife. On the original frame can be seen the date 1496 and
the ages of the two persons, thirty-six and twenty-seven.
Depicted above is the coat-of-arms of Antwerp’s Guild of
St. Luke. The banderole bears the motto of the Violieren,
the guild’s chamber of rhetoric, ‘Wt lonsten versaemt’
(united in friendship). This artist’s portrait is one of the
earliest of its kind in The Netherlands and was mentioned
in an inventory of the possessions of Margaret of Austria
from 1516.
Master of Frankfurt (Antwerp 1460 – 1515/25)
Festival of the Archers
From the fourteenth century on, many Flemish and Brabant
towns had guilds of archers that practised with arms. The
archers also organised competitions and drinking sprees
with their brother-archers from other towns. This painting
of an archers’ festival was commissioned by the Antwerp
Guild of the Old Arbalest. In the middle of the festivities
is a man enthroned under a baldachin: he is the winner of
the tournament. The gilded key above his head indicates
a free banquet. Two jesters are morris-dancing to the
beat of a black drummer. A gate proves to be no obstacle
to certain individuals looking to join the exclusive party.
This mysterious painting has at least yielded up its many
meanings. A man in the garden stares straight out at us;
it is the artist depicted on the dual portrait in this room.
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Anonymous, ca. 1520/30
Halberd
The halberd is a multi-functional pole weapon. It consists
of wooden shaft, two metres or more in length, with an
iron thrusting blade having an axe on one side and a hook
on the other. The axe was razor-sharp and could seriously
mutilate opponents. During a battle, the halberd could
be used as a striking and thrusting weapon, and its hook
could serve to pull a rider from his horse. It was used from
the Middle Ages into the sixteenth century as a rank-andfile weapon. It was supplanted by the pike and chiefly by
the emerging firearms, and thereafter served only as a
ceremonial weapon, borne as a sign of rank by sergeants
or in parades.
Cologne Master of St. Veronica (fifteenth century)
The Man of Sorrows with the Virgin
and St. Catherine of Alexandria
Ca. 1400 – 1420
Christ is flanked by the Virgin and St. Catherine holding
the instruments of her torture, the wheel and the sword.
This panel was probably initially the central piece of a
small domestic triptych. Christ is depicted as the Man of
Sorrows with the crown of thorns on his head. He shows
us his wounds (ostentatio vulnerum) and reminds us that it
is through his gory sacrifice that we are redeemed.
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The Master of the Antwerp Adoration
(Southern Netherlands, ca. 1500 – 1530)
Adoration of the Magi
Ca. 1519?
(from May 2013)
The Master of the Antwerp Adoration was an anonymous painter who is thought to have worked at Antwerp
during the first decade of the sixteenth century. It was the
triptych exhibited here that gave the master his invented
name. However, the refinement of the work is substantially greater than that of what the so-called ‘Antwerp
Mannerists’ produced, and it is therefore not impossible
that the painter was active in Bruges or Ghent. The central
panel has a depiction of the Adoration of the Magi, a theme
that was highly marketable. On the side panels are, left,
St. George with the dragon and, right, St. Margaret of
Antioch, together with the kneeling commissioner of the
work. In various places in the painting, the underpainting
is visible to the naked eye.
Anonymous (ca. 1515)
Antwerp altarpiece, Adoration of the Magi
(until May 2013)
Here the event of the adoration is not depicted as taking
place in a stable with a crib, ox and ass, as folk devotion
would wish it, but in a house, as indicated in the gospel
(Matt. 2,11: ’And entering into the house ...’). Identifying
marks are to be seen on the altarpiece: two small hands
on the right-hand side of the box, a small hand on the
side of the right-hand panel (identifying marks of the
frame-maker) and a further small hand on the head of
each figure (identifying marks of the sculptor). Altarpiece
production was regulated by the Antwerp ordinances of
1470, 1472 and 1493, which allocated production to five
crafts. The beeldsnydere (sculptor) carved the figures and
the wings; the metselsnydere (specialist woodcarver) did
the decorative carving; the decorator and the gilder took
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care of the polychromy; and the backmaker (box-maker)
made the altarpiece box, with the painter decorating the
wings. This specialisation enhanced productivity and quality, which last was endorsed by the identifying marks:
the small hand for the wood and the castle for the polychromy. Each figure is cut from a separate block of wood
and the carving is of good Antwerp quality. Pictured on
the wing panels are, left, St. Hadrian (martyr, † 304) and,
right, St. Clara († 1253), a disciple of St. Francis. It was
probably at the request of the buyer that the saints were
depicted on these panels. They were the patron saints
either of a married couple or a foundation. The altarpiece
probably functioned as a domestic altarpiece or as a devotional altarpiece in a side chapel of a church.
Anonymous Brabant Master (early sixteenth century)
Enclosed Garden
This ‘Enclosed Garden’ consists of a shallow box, a sort of
puppet theatre, decorated with floral elements and holding various polychromed figures. The garden is enclosed
by painted side panels with religious depictions. Such
‘Gardens’ were generally commissioned by convents of
nuns and were fabricated jointly by box-makers, painters, sculptors and decorators. At the bottom is a reed
fence with a gate, an allusion to the Enclosed Garden of
the Song of Songs and to Mary’s virginity. It is the Virgin
within an aureole that forms the central figure. Below,
Adam and Eve are being expelled from paradise. The
paintings on the left-hand panel depict the Ascension and
the Descent into Hell, those on the right-hand panel the
marvel of Pentecost and the Noli me tangere (Do not touch
me). The side panels are of German origin and certainly a
half-century older than the sculptures.
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Joachim Beuckelaer (Antwerp 1533 – 1575)
Woman Selling Vegetables
Signed with monogram and dated 1567
In Rockox’s time, the kitchen chimney stood here. Together
with the well, it was a seventeenth-century kitchen’s most
important utility. A painting could often be hung on the
chimney in the kitchen of a patrician house as a reference to the area’s function. A ‘Joachim Beuckelaer’ would
certainly have been in its place here. The vegetable seller
offers a wide selection of vegetables and fruit, and her
companion deals in game. Duck with fruit was very much
a favourite dish in patrician cuisine.
Initially, Joachim Beuckelaer painted religious themes,
later using the religious context to enhance the attraction
of his market pieces and still lifes. Together with his uncle,
the Amsterdam painter Pieter Aertsen (Amsterdam 1508–
1575), he was an initiator of the independent market and
still-life themes in painting. Their paintings were often
also allegorical depictions.
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Corridor 1
Sebastiaan Vrancx (Antwerp 1573 – 1647)
Winter Pleasures
Monogram S.V. under the sleigh in the foreground
Young and old are having fun skating on a frozen river.
Some of them are in carnival costume, such as the girl
in the right foreground, who is wearing a Twelfth Night
crown on her head and holding under her arm the Twelfth
Night cake in which she has found the bean, allowing her
to rule for the whole day.
Louis de Caullery (Caullery 1579/1581 – Antwerp 1621)
Shrove Tuesday on the Ice
Masked skaters throng a heavily frozen canal in the centre
of a model Renaissance town. On the banks, a varied
crowd of people congregate around the different amusements, which include an open-air theatre and a tumbling
acrobat.
Pieter Neefs I (Antwerp ca. 1578 – after 1656)
and Frans Francken III (Antwerp 1606 – 1667)
Church Interior
Signed PEETER NEEFFS
Pieter Neefs I was the paramount Flemish painter of church
interiors. A fixed source of inspiration was the interior of
the Church of Our Lady in Antwerp, the biggest church in
The Netherlands. However, the church’s impressive pillar
architecture is not reproduced parrot-fashion, but varied
in accordance with the desired surface division. Frans
Francken III has painted tiny figures in the empty interior.
The two painters co-operated on a number of paintings.
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Paul Vredeman de Vries (Amsterdam 1567 – 1617)
and Sebastiaan Vrancx (Antwerp 1573 – 1647)
Palaces
A porticoed terrace leads to an impressive gatehouse.
The floor is laid with multi-coloured marble. To the right,
behind a garden with a fountain, rises a palace, certain
elements of which are reminiscent of the Antwerp town
hall. Elegant figures painted by Sebastiaan Vrancx people
this architectural piece. This imagined scene certainly
answers to the urban development aspirations entertained
by the burghers of Antwerp. Peter Paul Rubens attempted
to stimulate those architectural ambitions further with the
publication of Palazzi di Genova (1622).
Sebastiaan Vrancx (Antwerp 1573 – 1647)
Landscape with Travellers Attacked by Robbers
Vrancx painted mainly scenes of battle, plundering and
robbery, and kermissen (fairs). He also added his figures
to landscapes by Joos de Momper II and Jan Brueghel I.
Besides being a painter, Vrancx was also active successively as warden, dean, leader of the fencers, captain of
the civil guard. As agent of De Violieren (a chamber of
rhetoric), he wrote a good fourteen tragi-comedies.
Mattheus Adolfsz. Molanus
(Frankenthal between 1590/95 – Middelburg 1645)
Landscape
Little is known about Molanus. In 1626, he was registered
in Middelburg as dean of the Guild of St. Luke. Moreover,
he was influenced by Gillis van Coninxloo III and Jan Brueghel I. He painted chiefly landscapes and more particularly
winter landscapes, which earned him the sobriquet ‘Snow
Brueghel’. Village scenes also feature in his work.
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Willem van Nieulandt II (Antwerp 1584 – Amsterdam 1635)
Landscape
(to July 2013)
Willem van Nieulandt II was a painter, engraver and writer
from Antwerp. His father, Adrien van Nieulandt the elder,
a merchant, moved with his family to Amsterdam for both
economic and religious reasons.
Willem learned his trade from Jacob Savery in Amsterdam.
In 1601 he went to Rome where he first lived and worked
with his uncle Willem (I), before becoming a student of Paul
Bril. He specialised in painting landscapes, often featuring
ruins of monuments, triumphal arches and temples. He
also Italianised his name to Guglielmo Terranova.
He returned to Amsterdam, and married in 1606. Then
he moved back to Antwerp, where he became a master
in the local Guild of St Luke. In 1629 he returned again to
Amsterdam. One of his children, Constancia, married the
artist Adriaen van Utrecht. In 1635, in his role as writer
he published his Egyptian tragedy. This painting probably
depicts the Campo Vaccino in Rome, with the remains of
the Roman Forum which lay under the ruins until 1800.
Willem van Nieulandt II (Antwerp 1584 – Amsterdam 1635)
View of the Campo Vaccino in Rome
Signed and dated G.V. Nievland-1611
(from July 2013)
This painting depicts the Campo Vaccino in Rome, seen
from the Capitol. ‘Campo Vaccino’ is a nickname given in
the sixteenth century to the ruins of the Forum Romanum,
which over the centuries had become covered with rubble
and earth and on which cows grazed. Excavations began
only in 1800. To the left is the Santa Maria del Popolo. In
the distance stands the triumphal arch of Septimus Severus,
the bottom half of which still lies buried under the sand.
Taking up the right-hand side of the picture are the ruins
of the temples of Romulus and of Antonius and Faustina.
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Room 3
De Cleyn Salette
The Renaissance Art Gallery
The inventory of the contents of Rockox’s house, drawn up in December 1640 after his death, tells us
about the wall covering of the following rooms in his house: the Cleyn Salette (Small Parlour), the Groot
Salet (Big Parlour) and the room or study behind it, which were hung with gilt leather. The notary
who drew up the inventory of Rockox’s possessions even listed the ground colour of the gilt leather in
each of these rooms: black in the Cleyn Salette, red in the Groot Salet and green in the study. We have
reproduced these colours. The chimney walls are hung with paper with the respective ground colour and
a motif that alludes to gilt leather.
In Rockox’s time, the Cleyn Salette was a reception room, a room with grandeur and that today exudes
a Renaissance atmosphere. The Renaissance was a key period in history and was symbolic in many ways
of the broadening of horizons. Not only were new continents and their cultures being discovered, but
science flourished and there was a fresh and detailed study of classical antiquity. The most important
development, though, was perhaps the introduction of printing during this period. With the advent of
humanism, the individual came to stand central. Subtle criticism of society was also expressed. In the
pictorial arts, we see a realism that is stripped of idealism. The naked figure came into its own, the process
of secularisation gradually revealed itself in iconography and religion was targeted. The landscape and
the still life – mainly of decorative importance in religious scenes during the Middle Ages – developed to
become themes in their own right in painting.
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Quinten Massijs I (Leuven 1456 – Antwerp 1530)
Holy Virgin with the Child Jesus
Massijs was one of the trailblazers of Renaissance painting and was a founder of the Antwerp School. Before
he began to paint he was a decorative ironsmith. Where
Massijs had his training is not known. He grew up in
Leuven and in 1491 was entered as a free master in the
registers of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke. Initially, he
leant towards the style of the Flemish Primitives, as this
tondo reveals. After 1500, he concentrated on the Renaissance ideal of beauty. This painter’s famous diptych Mary
and Jesus (Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, exhibited
in Leuven, Museum M) was among the works Rockox had
in his art gallery.
Copy after Quinten Massijs I
(Leuven 1456 – Antwerp 1530)
Portrait of Peter Gillis
The Antwerp town clerk Pieter Gillis or Aegidius (1486–
1533) was a notable humanist. He published poetry and
produced publications of classical works, of Thomas
More’s Utopia and of letters of Erasmus. His house was an
international meeting-place for scholars, diplomats, artists
and art lovers. As a seventeen-year-old proof-reader at
the printer Dirk Martens, he got to know Erasmus. In
1517, he and Erasmus commissioned their portraits from
Quinten Massijs as presents for their friend Thomas More.
The painter depicted them in an extended study. In the
left-hand portrait, Erasmus is seen writing. In the righthand portrait, Gillis is pointing to one of his friend’s books
and holding a letter from Thomas More in his left hand.
This painting is a copy of the original (Salisbury, Collection
of Lord Radnor).
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Quinten Massijs I (Leuven 1456 – Antwerp 1530)
St. Christopher
Ca. 1490
The thirteenth-century Legenda Aurea tells of the heathen
giant Christopher who, longing to be in the employ of
the world’s most powerful ruler, entered the service of
a Christian prince. One day, though, the prince crossed
himself to ward off evil, prompting Christopher to take
service with the Devil, who was evidently more powerful.
However, Satan in turn appeared to be fearful of a cross
along the roadside. Christopher resolved to get to know
this supreme lord of the cross. A hermit told him that he
could serve that lord by carrying people over deep water
and that this lord would presently make himself known.
After a long time, a child appeared who wished to be
taken across the water. The water rose up and the child
became as heavy as lead. With difficulty, Christopher
reached the other bank, having not only carried the Christ
child, but also the weight that He bore on his shoulders.
Massijs uses the theme to paint a beautiful river landscape
with a sunset.
Joachim Patinir (Bouvignes? 1475/80 – Antwerp 1515/24)
St. Christopher Carrying the Child Jesus
Joachim Patinir came from the region of Dinant and probably gained his training in Gerard David’s atelier at Bruges.
Later, he became a member of the Antwerp Guild of St.
Luke. In the sixteenth century, many painters specialised
in a particular genre. Patinir was the first real landscape
painter in The Netherlands, Albrecht Dürer calling him ‘der
gut landschaft maler’, the first mention of the word ‘landscape’ in the German language. This mediaeval saint of
intercession was depicted by numerous painters. In the
early sixteenth century, much of the population believed
that evil could be averted by looking on the likeness of
the mythical Christopher. The giant served as the patron
saint of travellers, ferrymen, mariners and seamen. It was
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believed that one could not die on the day that one had
beheld his likeness. During the Late Middle Ages and Early
Renaissance, life-size likenesses of him were to be seen in
market-places and churches.
Just as Massijs, Patinir has placed this saint in a dazzling
landscape, but the religious scene is no longer dominant,
but subordinated to the landscape. Patinir often painted
in bird’s eye perspective, which allowed him to unfold the
landscape in all its aspects right to the horizon and to
reduce the religious element to a minimum.
Joachim Patinir (Bouvignes? 1475/80 – Antwerp 1515/24)
Landscape with the Flight into Egypt
Signed Opus. Joachim D. Patinir
Joseph, Mary and their child are fleeing in a notional landscape that brings together craggy rocks from the Land of
Maas with picturesque Flemish farms and a misty Italian
coastline. From the van Ertborn collection.
Imitator of Joachim Patinir
(Bouvignes? 1475/80 – Antwerp 1515/24)
Lot and His Family Flee Sodom and Gomorrah
Divine wrath has overwhelmed the corrupt city of Sodom
and has devastated a rocky coastal landscape. An angel
takes Lot and his family by the hand to flee the city in
time. They are urged not to look back on the burning
town, but Lot’s wife does so and is changed into a pillar
of salt. (Genesis 11: 14–19). The Biblical theme presents
the painter with a fine opportunity to depict an infernal
landscape.
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Marinus van Reymerswale
(Reimerswaal 1490/95 – Goes 1546/56)
The City Tax Collector
A city tax collector receives duties on beer, wine and fish,
and writes down the receipts under the angry, suspicious
eye of a trader. The strange headgear of the collector,
decorated with a wispy red material, adds to the caricatural effect of the scene. Seen on the plank above is a round
box with securities on it. Van Reymerswale made paintings
of more tax collectors, lawyers and money-changers of this
kind, some of which are actual portraits. In these works,
the painter gives shape to the burgeoning capitalism of
the Early Renaissance. From the van Ertborn collection.
Attributed to Michiel Gast (Antwerp 1505/25-1577/97)
King David in a Landscape
A circular painting that has been attributed to the landscape painter Michiel Gast on the analogy of The Travellers
to Emmaus in Utrecht’s Centraal Museum. This last painting is monogrammed and dated MG 1577. Both works are
highly comparable in style and are the only known works
that can be attributed to this master. Because King David
is painted in a landscape, not on oak, it is assumed that it
dates from Gast’s time in Rome (1538–1556).
Anonymous, Southern Netherlands
(first quarter of the sixteenth century)
St. John on Patmos
The evangelist John is seated with his eagle on the island
of Patmos, which the painter situates in a broad waterway
with a city in the background. John’s vision is depicted in
the sky: the Madonna, set within a golden light, appears
on a crescent moon with the seven-headed dragon of the
Apocalypse.
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Anonymous, Southern Netherlands
(first half of the sixteenth century)
Ecce Homo
(from April 2013)
Ecce Homo are the words that the Roman governor Pontius
Pilatus is said to have uttered when, after having Jesus
scourged, he presented Him with His crown of thorns,
scarlet robe and kingly attributes to the Jews. This figure
of Christ is a copy after the Christ figure on an ‘Ecce Homo’
by Quinten Massijs I in the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua.
From the van Ertborn collection.
Catharina van Hemessen (Antwerp 1527/28 - 1560/80)
The Lamentation of Christ
Catharina, daughter of the painter Jan van Hemessen, is
one of the very few female artists of the 16th century.
She is represented in this room by the charming portrait
of an unknown woman. Here she depicts - in a subtle
way - the drama of the lamentation, depicting a weeping
yet suppressed sorrow. John displays visible grief as he
touches a handkerchief to his face, and Mary Magdalene
lovingly holds the hand of Christ. She is recognisable by
her symbol, the ointment jar standing in the foreground.
In the background we recognise the New Jerusalem,
pictured brightly lit.
Round folding table
Anonymous
Ca. 1600
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Shells
Nicolaas Rockox had a collection of shells. The inventory
notes ‘twee caskens met diversche soorten van schelpen
van allerhande couleuren’ (two casks of divers shells in all
colours). They were brought by merchant ships from trips
far abroad and in those times were costly trinkets. Silversmiths worked nautilus shells into cups.
Lambert Lombard (Liège 1505/06 – 1566)
The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes
Born at Liège, Lambert Lombard had a great influence on
the Antwerp School during the first half of the sixteenth
century. His fascination for the culture of classical
antiquity – he spent two years in Rome – prompted
Frans Floris I and Willem Key to become his pupils.
Frans Floris I in particular was to become the figurehead
of Renaissance painting in Antwerp. The chief figures
in this Bible event stand central in this depiction: Christ
blesses the loaves and fishes and to his right are his
disciples Peter and Andrew. The composition is built up
in orderly fashion, with a high-set foreground and with a
horizon line placed too high, indicating that Lombard had
not yet mastered the rules of perspective.
Jan Massijs (Antwerp 1509 – 1575)
The Holy Family
Signed and dated 1563 IOANNES MASSIJS PINGEBAT
Little is known for certain about the life of Jan Massijs.
The son of Quinten Massijs I was suspected of being
sympathetic towards the sect leader Loy de Schaliedekker (Eligius Pruystinck) and had to leave The Netherlands
in 1544. He certainly stayed for a while at Genoa, but his
erotic, refined and manneristic style suggests that he was
also familiar with the school of Fontainebleau.
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Cornelis van Cleve (Antwerp 1520 – after 1594)
This central panel of a triptych originally graced the tomb
of Lodewijk Clarys and his wife Marie le Batteur in the
Antwerp cathedral. The art historian Max Friedländer
attributed the painting to Cornelis van Cleve (son of
the more famous Joos) and used it as the basis in reconstructing the oeuvre of the master. It could well be
that this artist is the one that old sources mention as
‘sotten Cleef’ (crazy Cleef) because of his mental illness.
‘Annunciations’ of this kind were frequently found in
Antwerp art collections of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
Joachim Beuckelaer (Antwerp ca. 1533 – 1575)
The Flight into Egypt
Monogrammed JB on a barrel and dated 1563
Laden with goods, market-sellers are moving to the bank
of a river to be ferried across. Among them is Joseph,
leading a donkey carrying Mary and the Infant Jesus. The
Bible scene occupies an inconspicuous place in the scene
of market bustle. In this painting, the landscape predom
inates over the Biblical theme.
Joachim Beuckelaer (Antwerp ca. 1533 – 1575)
Allegory of Imprudence
Monogrammed JB and dated 1563
This panel has often been interpreted as a depiction of
the prodigal son, a tavern scene or even a brothel scene.
The impudent behaviour of the young man in the foreground, the birdcage on the ceiling and the various victuals
plainly indicate lust. The old man asleep in the background
symbolises another vice, sloth. The work can be seen as an
allegory of imprudence. The wanton young man risks
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being burnt on the fire of his passion. The sleeper risks
being burnt by the fire in the hearth.
Lucas van Valckenborch
(Leuven or Mechelen ca. 1535 – Frankfurt-am-Main 1597)
and Georg Flegel
(Olmütz 1563 – Frankfurt-am-Main 1638)
Fish Market or Winter
Ca. 1595
Lucas van Valckenborch was not only a landscape painter,
but also a portraitist and painter of market scenes. The still
lifes in a great number of these pieces were executed by his
assistant Georg Flegel. This snow-covered fish market was
originally part of a series with the four seasons. People are
skating on the thick ice in the background. Two muffledup well-to-do women are making their purchases and are
dressed in the Brabant style of around 1580–1600. The
fishmonger is chopping off pieces of salmon, while his
wife is taking smoked fish from a hook. The foreground
is the work of Flegel. Particularly to be noted are the fine
metal shine of the brass bucket and the subtly painted
water bucket.
Paul Vredeman de Vries (Antwerp, 1567 – 1617)
Daniel Demanding Justice for Suzannah
monogrammed ‘PVR 1613’
Paul Vredeman de Vries was a son and pupil of Hans
Vredeman de Vries and collaborated on his father’s
masterpiece Architectura. At the end of the sixteenth
century, Paul left with his father for Prague, where he
designed the imperial art gallery of Rudolf II. Like his
father, Paul was fascinated by perspective and played
with space. In his paintings, too, architecture often
dominates the foreground iconography. The Bible story
referred to here concerns a legal case in which Susannah is falsely accused of adultery by two men whose
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amorous advances she has refused. A young man named
Daniel ensures that the two men and not Susannah are
condemned to death.
Pieter Brueghel II (Brussels 1564 or 1565 – Antwerp 1638)
Proverbs
Signed P. Brueghel, 1595
Little is known of Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s life. He
was born in Brussels as the eldest son of the famous Pieter
Brueghel the Elder. Because he was very young when his
father died, he and his brother Jan I probably learnt the art
of painting from their grandmother Mayken Verhulst. The
art of Pieter II lay very much in the shadow of his father’s.
He not only repeatedly copied many of his father’s works,
but his father’s popular style is to be seen reflected in the
paintings that came from his own inspiration. The Proverbs
from the collection of the Rockox House is an excellent
copy of the painting that Pieter Brueghel the Elder made
in 1559 in Antwerp and that today hangs in Berlin. The
more than one hundred proverbs can be split into two
groups. The first illustrates the absurdity of human behaviour and turns the world on its head, as symbolised by the
globe with the cross set underneath it. Sinfulness could
arise from this foolishness, and this forms the subject of
the second category, symbolised in its turn by the unfaithful wife wrapping her husband in a blue cloak (i.e. deceiving him).
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Jan Brueghel I (Brussels 1568 – Antwerp 1625)
Flowers in a Vase
The flowers in this vase are neatly arranged besides and
above each other, no one intruding on the other. Brueghel
could never have seen a sumptuous bouquet like this, as
the fritillary, iris, peony, lily, tulip, narcissus, forget-me-not
and rose bloom at different times. Brueghel himself was
the central figure in the spread of floral still lifes in the
Southern and Northern Netherlands shortly after 1605.
His own writings indicate that he never allowed anyone
else to work on his delicate bouquet pieces. Nevertheless,
his son Jan worked in exactly the same style and it is not
always easy to distinguish between the two.
Osias Beert I (Antwerp ca. 1580 – 1624)
Bouquet of Flowers
In his early-seventeenth-century floral still lifes, Beert
followed in the footsteps of Jan Brueghel I. No works
of Beert are mentioned in the Rockox inventory, though
paintings of representatives of the Brueghel dynasty are.
Both Beert and the elder Jan Brueghel were masters in
the creation of beautiful bouquets in which each flower
is pictured at the most attractive moment of its existence
and is a reflection of keen observation. Bouquets of this
sort refer to the transience of existence on earth.
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Cornelis Hagaerts
(Breda end sixteenth century – Antwerp 1642)
Virginal
Hagaerts is mentioned in 1626–27 as master of the Guild
of St. Luke and was also a member of the joiners’ guild.
His method of building the virginal was identical to that of
the celebrated Ruckers family, for whom Hagaerts probably worked. The soundboard of the instrument is beautifully decorated with various flowers and birds. The Latin
phrase ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’, (thus passes the glory of
the world) probably comes from the book De Imitatione
Christi (The Imitation of Christ) by the mediaeval Augustinian monk Thomas à Kempis and is closely connected to
the idea of vanitas that is also expressed in still lifes.
Antwerp art cabinet with garden
vista and flowers and fruit
Mid-seventeenth century
The cabinet is wholly veneered in ebony. Its exterior doors
conceal drawers that held precious objects such as valuable documents, coins, diamonds, jewellery, embroidery
and lace. Rare flower bulbs were also stored in such drawers. The centre of the cabinet holds a mirror chamber. Set
centrally in the two doors are flowingly cut reliefs after
compositions by Bernard Salomon: The Sacrifice of Abraham and Rebecca and Eliezer. Under the cornice is a depiction of Abraham and Sarah and The Banishing of Hagar. The
exterior and interior of the doors, as well as the drawers,
also carry incised floral motifs – spring and summer flowers.
Coral
Just as shells, coral was among the naturalia that were often
on display in art cabinets. It was collected on account both
of the exotic locations where it was found and its rarity.
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Jan Massijs (Antwerp 1509 – 1575)
Judith
Signed and dated IOANNES MASSIIS PING 1563.
Judith is adorned with elegant jewels and a transparent
veil. In her left hand, she holds the head of Holofernes,
general of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyria, all the while
discreetly averting her gaze. A sword is grasped in her
right hand. She has enticed him, got him drunk and then
struck his head off. By her action, the Jewish people were
spared destruction. To the left is depicted the confusion
that the entire event has sown among the enemy. The
theme of strong women from the Old Testament – including Eve and Delilah, besides Judith – was very popular in
Western European painting and literature.
Jan van Hemessen (Hemiksem ca. 1500 – after 1575)
Saint Jerome as a Monk
Jan van Hemessen (Hemiksem ca. 1500 – after 1575)
Saint Jerome as a Monk
(until August 2013)
The ‘St. Jerome as Monk’ from the Rockox House is the
only work that we have here from Rockox’s original collection. Jerome was one of the four Latin Fathers of the
Church. He is depicted on this panel as scholar studying
in his cell. He retired to Bethlehem, where he translated
the Old Testament from Hebrew to Latin and revised the
Latin translation of the New Testament. He was chosen
as the patron saint of humanism, as he was regarded as a
symbol of contemplation. The window commands a view
of Bethlehem, albeit that this Eastern town is represented
in an Early Gothic, Flemish architectural style. The two
camels in the foreground strike the only exotic note.
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Wall-cupboard
Antwerp ca. 1600
Displayed in this wall-cupboard is a selection of Chinese
porcelain from the Rockox House. This type of Chinese
porcelain was one of the most popular of export goods; it
takes its name from the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty
(1368–1644), Wan-li (1563–1620). The Dutch term for it,
kraakporselein, derives from the type of Portuguese ship
know as a carraca, which was used for the first imports
into Europe of export porcelain at the end of the sixteenth
century.
Jean Clouet (Hainaut ca. 1480 – Paris 1541)
The Dauphin François, son of François I
The French Dauphin François was born in 1518 and died
early in 1536. Court painter Jean Clouet probably painted
him around 1522–1523, when the child was four or five
years old. The royal status of the sitter is revealed by the
costly clothing. His white undershirt is visible through the
slashes in the low-cut doublet; on the shoulders are red
velvet sleeves; and the black hat is trimmed with eiderdown. The face expresses will-power and royal dignity:
royal children were given little time to be children.
Attributed to Jan van Amstel
(Amsterdam 1490/1510 – Antwerp 1537/1544)
St. Christopher
This painting depicts the St. Christopher legend as a drama.
To the right, the saint regards the retreating army of Satan.
To the left, he bears on his shoulders the Christ Child seated
on a world globe. The first such globe dated from 1493 and
was made by the Nuremberg dealer Martin Behaim, who
often stayed at Antwerp. Several merchants and collectors
in the city on the Scheldt had globes of this kind.
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Pieter Pourbus (Gouda 1523/24 – Bruges 1584)
Portrait of Olivier Nieulant
Monogrammed and dated P P An° DNI 1573
The coat-of-arms above right enables us to identify the
sitter as Olivier van Nieulant, alderman of Bruges, Clerk of
the Court, and Grand Pensionary and Clerk of the Land
of Waas. Given under the date is his age: 26 years and
10 months.
Catharina van Hemessen (Antwerp 1527/28 – 1560/80)
Portrait of a Woman
Monogrammed CJgF and CHF
(according to the museum catalogue of 1920)
Catharina van Hemessen was the second daughter of
the painter Jan van Hemessen and was lady-in-waiting to
Maria of Hungary at Brussels. Catharina painted chiefly
religious scenes and female portraits. It is likely that the
portrait here depicts a lady-in-waiting, elegantly dressed
in a black bodice with red sleeves. From the van Ertborn
collection.
Hans Bol (Mechelen 1534 – Amsterdam 1593)
Panoramic View of Antwerp and its Port
Signed HBOL and dated 1583
Hans Bol belonged to the Mechelen School of landscape
painters. With the Spanish laying siege to Mechelen, he
fled that town in 1572 and moved to Antwerp. When
Antwerp, too, fell into the hands of Spanish troops in
1584, Bol moved to the Northern Netherlands. He died in
Amsterdam. This fine panorama of Antwerp is dominated
by the tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady and the spire (now
disappeared) of the church of the Abbey of St. Michael.
Between these two buildings can be seen the tower of
the Church of St. Andrew and, to the left, we catch a
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glimpse of the Church of St. Walburga (now demolished),
that is partially concealed behind the Steen. This miniature
dates from just prior to the Spanish incursion. There is no
hint of the imminent calamity that is to strike Antwerp:
there is a great bustle on the Scheldt, and shipping is
moving easily.
Lucas van Valckenborch
(Leuven or Mechelen ca. 1535 – Frankfurt-am-Main 1597)
River Landscape with Swineherds and Blast Furnace
(Huy seen from Ahin)
Lucas van Valckenborch belonged to a family of painters through three generations. He was active in Liège,
Aachen, Antwerp, Brussels, Linz and Frankfurt. His Calvinist sympathies prompted him to travel to avoid persecution. He was court painter to Archduke Matthias, who
was briefly Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands
(1578-81). This painting depicts the Maas valley with
the town of Huy in the background, recognisable by the
collegiate church, the Namur gate and the castle. To the
right, a blast furnace bears witness to the long tradition of
metallurgy in the region. In the foreground, a swineherd
is using a stick to knock acorns down from an oak tree to
feed his swine.
Jeremias van Winghe
(Brussels 1578 – Frankfurt-am-Main 1645)
Still Life
Private collection, on long-term loan to the Antwerp
Royal Museum of Fine Arts inv. IB 07.005
Like his father Joos before him, Jeremias van Winghe
initially concentrated on pen drawings. Thereafter, he
followed an apprenticeship with the painter Frans Badens
at Amsterdam and spent a few years in Italy, before
establishing himself in Frankfurt as a portrait painter. In
1616, he married the daughter of a jeweller and became a
dealer in precious stones and jewellery, returning to paint32
ing in 1640. A few portraits, market scenes and still lifes
from his hand are known.
Osias Beert I (Antwerp ca. 1580 – 1624)
Still Life of Three Wineglasses in a Niche
Private collection, on long-term loan to the Antwerp
Royal Museum of Fine Arts. inv. IB 07.001
Osias Beert I, a painter of flowers and fruit, seldom signed
his works. They are nevertheless easily recognisable
through their transparent and descriptive brushwork. Hard
reflections of light cause the showy glasses in this charming
still life to sparkle like jewels. Together with Clara Peeters,
Beert was among the pioneers of the Flemish still life.
Clara Peeters (Antwerp? 1580/89 – ca. 1640)
Still Life with Fish
Ca. 1620
Twice signed CLARA P.
It appears that, after having added the first signature,
the artist lowered the table, thereby largely effacing that
signature. Central in this delicate still life are a carp and
a pike in a terracotta colander. To the right lie smoked
fish, shrimps and oysters; to the left, a few crayfish. Little
is known of Clara Peeters’ life. She was probably trained
by Osias Beert I. A number of still lifes by her from the
1607 – 1621 period are known.
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Corridor 2
‘Inventory of all the furniture and movable goods,
papers, interest notes, documents and coins,
paintings and other works of art found in the home of the late
Mr Nicolaas Rockox, knight, former burgomaster of this city
of Antwerp, who departed this world on the
twelfth day of December in this year sixteen hundred and forty,
described and inventoried’
Shortly after Nicolaas Rockox died, an inventory and description of the entire
contents of his house was drawn up. That document is still providing us
today with information about the lifestyle of a seventeenth-century patrician
such as Rockox.
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Antoine Steenwinkel
(Southern Netherlands? – Copenhagen 1688)
Vanitas Portrait of the Painter
The Danish caption Steenwinkel og hústrú (Steenwinkel
and his wife) and Ipse pinxit have been painted over the
craquelure and are thus of a later date. The mirror reflecting the sitter, a man with a broad-brimmed hat, is not
held by a woman but by a young man. In front of the
mirror, standing on a chest, are various vanitas symbols:
an hour-glass, books and a skull. The foreground is taken
up with a mysterious, open drawer. Steenwinkel creates a
remarkable optical illusion here, the meaning of which is
open to various interpretations.
Imitator of Adriaen Brouwer
(Oudenaarde ca 1605 – Antwerp 1638)
A Dock-worker
The high, sacklike headgear that can hang down to the
shoulders suggests that the figure depicted is a porter of
some sort. The elegant pose of the legs and the aristocratic stance with hand on hip contrast starkly with the
slightly hazy expression of this dock-worker.
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Room 4
Tgroot Saleth (the Big Parlour)
The Baroque art gallery
In 1603, Rockox purchased his house on the Keizerstraat. It was a double-fronted property and
there was a small town garden to the rear. Rockox had it rebuilt in Flemish Renaissance style
and added an art gallery and a study. The art gallery runs parallel to the covered colonnade and
completely closes in the Renaissance inner courtyard. The Renaissance chimney piece in the art
gallery immediately draws the attention and is now the only original chimney piece in the building.
In 1608, Rubens returned from Italy, where he had stayed for nearly eight years and had immersed
himself in the art and history of Roman antiquity and the work of the Italian masters, taking in,
among others, the Venetian School with Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. His art was influenced by
the sculpture of Classical Antiquity and by Michelangelo and Caravaggio. It was in this way that
Rubens gave shape to Baroque art in Northern Europe. With Jacques Jordaens and Anthony van
Dyck in his wake, he ensured that the Baroque became a quality label for Antwerp. Rubens became
court painter to the Archdukes Albrecht and Isabella, and was permitted to fulfil this task from
Antwerp. Following his return from Italy, one of his major patrons was Nicolaas Rockox, who gave
him important commissions for the Antwerp town hall, the cathedral, the Church of St. Charles
Borromeo, the Church of the Recollects and for Rockox’s own house on the Keizerstraat.
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Nicolaas Rockox, a renowned art collector
The inventory of the contents of Rockox’s house, drawn up after his death, reveals that
he possessed eighty-two paintings, a collection in which the most important painters
were represented: contemporary painters of his time, such as Rubens, van Dyck and
Francken, members of the Brueghel dynasty and many others. Around 1630, a patrician
would have had an average of fifteen paintings. He also boasted a collection of coins,
more than eleven hundred of them, Greek and Roman from the fifth century B.C. to the
second century A.D. He kept a catalogue of them, written in his own hand. Likewise
gracing his house were antiquarian Troniën (busts) and sculptures, of which he also
kept a listing, which included nineteen busts of statesmen, orators and mythological
figures. After his death, his house was also found to contain two hundred and three
books. We know from the archives of the Plantin Moretus Museum that, at that printers’
alone, over a period of thirty-one years, he bought a hundred and sixty-two books, the
bestsellers of their time; these included a number of fine botanical publications, famous
historical works and also religious books.
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Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 – Antwerp 1640)
Venus Frigida
Signed and dated on a stone to the left of Amor:
P.P. Rubens F. 1614
(from 15 September 2013 to and including
15 April 2014 in the Prado, Madrid)
Here, Rubens illustrates a line from the Roman dramatist
Terence: ‘Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus would freeze’
or, in other words ‘Hunger and thirst cast a chill on love’.
The artist took his inspiration for the freezing Venus
from a Roman marble sculpture that he came across in
the Palazzo Farnese during his stay in Rome. The orig
inal format of the painting was smaller and longitudinal
(121 x 95 cm), the expansion to include the landscape
probably being added after the death of the artist. In the
late-seventeenth century, the work was in the possession of J.A.N. Peytier de Merchten, alderman of Antwerp
(°1706).
Jacques Jordaens (Antwerp 1593 – 1678)
As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe
Signed and dated J. JORDE. FECIT 1638
(from 15 September 2013 to and including 15 April 2014,
in replacement of Venus Frigida)
In this merry domestic scene, the grandparents are singing
from a songbook, while the father blows his bagpipes.
The young ones are doing their best, too. The baby girl
on mother’s lap is blowing on the flute of her rattle and
her brother is playing a recorder. In the cartouche above
can be seen the proverb that appears in the Emblemata of
Jacob Cats, Spiegel van den ouden en nieuwen tijdt (Mirror
of Old and New Times,1632): the young imitate the old.
The old man is probably Adam van Noort, master and
father-in-law of Jordaens. Jordaens himself is probably the
man playing the bagpipes.
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Anthony van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 – Blackfriars 1641)
The Lamentation of Christ
This canvas was painted in 1635 to a commission from
the Italian abbot Cesare Alessandro Scaglia, Count of
Verrua. Besides fulfilling various diplomatic missions,
Scaglia was also a businessman and art dealer. As ambassador to London, he served the interests of the Spanish
king Philip IV. In 1639, the acutely sick Scaglia came to
Antwerp to see out his last years in the monastery of
the Recollects. Anthony van Dyck was commissioned to
paint a ‘Lamentation of Christ’ to hang above Scaglia’s
tomb. The abbot possessed seven paintings by van Dyck
and was portrayed by him several times.
Meleager and Atalanta
(until 27 January 2013 in the Royal Museums
of Fine Art, Brussels, and from 1 March
to 16 June 2013 in the Fridericianum of the
Museumslandschaft Hessen, Kassel)
In Homer’s Iliad, we read that the goddess Diana sent
an enormous boar to Calydon, because the king of that
country had failed to sacrifice to her. An attempt to hunt
and kill the animal was made and the fierce Atalanta
managed to wound it. Her admirer Meleager, son of a
king, killed it and presented its head to her. However, his
jealous uncles attempted to deprive her of the hunting
trophy. Jordaens depicts the moment when the indignant
Meleager draws his sword. In the story, he then kills his
uncles and is subsequently cursed by his mother. He was
to die a horrible death.
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Abraham Janssens I (Antwerp ca. 1567 – 1632)
Concord, Charity and Sincerity Conquering Discord
1622
(until the end of June 2013, in replacement
of Meleager and Atalanta)
In her right arm, Concord holds a cornucopia holding fruit
and ears of corn; in her left, a bundle of arrows, a symbol
of unity in diversity. Charity binds the bundle together
with a red ribbon. Beside her is a young boy with a burning heart. Sincerity, dressed in white, has already tied her
white ribbon. In the background, grisly Discord looks on
impotently. Copies of this work are in the Gemäldegalerie,
Berlin, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes.
The Education of Jupiter
Besides numerous paintings – both mythological and
religious – and cartoons for tapestries, Jordaens left an
oeuvre of more than 400 drawings. This particular work
was probably painted around 1645.
Jupiter, or Zeus, as he is known in Greek mythology, was
the son of Cronus and Rhea. Cronus devoured his children
at birth, but Rhea was able to save Jupiter by hiding him
on Crete, where he was raised by nymphs. He was suckled by the goat Amalthea, depicted above right. Jupiter
is depicted here with a lyre, an instrument that probably
made its way into Greece from Asia Minor. The lyre and
the associated cithara, which is bigger and more robust,
were used chiefly to accompany singing or poetry recitation.
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Memorial Triptych of Nicolaas Rockox
and his Wife Adriana Perez
It was around 1613/15 that Rubens painted this triptych
for Rockox (1560–1640) and his wife Adriana Perez (1568–
1619), the two appearing on the side panels; painted on the
reverse of these panels are the respective coats-of-arms of
the couple. The scene on the central panel is generally entitled Doubting Thomas, albeit that the theme is conceived
in a broader sense, so that what is pictured here is the
belief in the Risen Christ. The triptych hung in Rockox’s
memorial chapel, the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, behind the choir of the Church of the Recollects at
Antwerp. The Rockox House is close to the Antwerp Royal
Museum of Fine Arts and is therefore an ideal place for this
masterpiece during the museum’s closure.
Wine cooler, 17th century
Rockox House, inv. 7764
This vessel, fashioned from hammered red copper, used to
be filled with ice to cool wine. Only the wealthy could afford
to construct special ice cellars or ice houses where they could
store ice collected during the winter for refreshment in the
summer. Hence wine coolers became a symbol of wealth.
Cornelis de Vos (Hulst 1584 – Antwerp 1651)
Portrait of Abraham Grapheus
Signed and dated C. DE Vos, F. Anno 1620
Abraham de Graef or Grapheus made himself useful as
a factotum with the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke. Maerten
de Vos, Jacques Jordaens and Anthony van Dyck immortalised his weather-beaten face in several portraits. In this
particular one, he is seen as an older man, hung about
with an assortment of silver breastplates or breuken (ornamental chains with silver plates) featuring guild symbols.
The goblet in Grapheus’ hand is likely to be the cup that
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prominent families presented to the guild in 1549. The
chalice to the extreme right on the table – crowned with
the figure of Pictura, the personification of the art of
painting – was designed in 1612 by Sebastiaan Vrancx,
but did not survive the French Revolution.
Portrait of Marten Pepijn
Legend: ME PICTOREM, PICTOR PINXIT D. ANT. VAN DYCK
EQVES ILLVSTRIS en A° D. 1632 / AET. ME LVIII.
The Antwerp painter Marten Pepijn (1575–1643) was a
member of Antwerp’s Guild of Romanists. These painters
worked in a somewhat dry, classical style, and were rapidly
overshadowed by Rubens and the artists working with him.
Van Dyck painted this portrait during his second Antwerp
period (1627–1632), when his style was highly atmospheric
and refined. The portrait must have been painted in January or February 1632, since a letter indicates that the artist
was already in London on 13 March of that year.
Portrait of Gaspard Gevartius
Ca. 1628
Jan Gaspard Gevaerts or Gevartius (1593–1666) is looking out at the viewer from his study. He studied law at
Leuven and was known as a philologist, neo-Latin poet
and historiographer. Among his writings was an unpublished commentary on the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius, whose bust we see on the desk.
Gevartius was town clerk of Antwerp from 1621 to 1662.
In that position, he was responsible for the organisation of official ceremonies, such as the Joyous Entry of
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635, and was a close friend
of Rubens. Moreover, he undertook the classical education of Rubens’ oldest son Albert and devised the Latin
epitaph for the artist’s tomb in the Church of St. James.
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Willem Key (Breda ca. 1515 – Antwerp 1568)
Portrait of a Lady
Rockox House, inv. 78.1
Key was able, as no other artist, to give Renaissance
portraits a dignified radiance. Here, we are face to face
with a distinguished lady, dressed in the Spanish fashion.
She radiates a self-aware pride, is ostensibly inscrutable
and commands respect, characteristics that are associated with the Renaissance individual of the mid-sixteenth
century. Although we do not know the lady’s identity, we
can deduce from her imposing demeanour and stylish
clothes that she belonged to the wealthy burgher class.
Joos de Momper II (Antwerp 1564 – 1635)
The Journey of Tobias
It is probable that De Momper went to Italy once he
had been inducted as a free master in Antwerp in 1581.
He must have returned by no later than 1590. His journey over the Alps inspired him and his landscape paintings after 1600 often feature rock formations, grottoes
and mountains. This period was his most productive,
but brought little innovation; the post-1600 landscapes
remain appealing, but are always variations on the same
theme. De Momper seldom signed or dated his work and
the study of his art is thus based on a comparison of style
and expertise. The landscape here serves as decor for the
Biblical scene of Tobias’ journey.
Mattheus Adolfsz. Molanus
(Frankenthal 1590/95 – Middelburg 1645)
Baptism of the Moorish Chamberlain
Here, too, the landscape serves as background for a
Biblical scene.
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Roelant Savery (Kortrijk, 1576 – Utrecht 1639)
Zoo
Rockox House inv 77.39
The Emperor Rudolf II, for whom Savery worked in Prague,
had a zoo and also built up a collection of exceptional
stones, shells, mounted insects and other exotic rarities. Savery was invited to Prague as a landscape painter,
because he leant towards the tradition of Pieter Brueghel
The Elder. This outstanding painting by him depicts various wild animals. The four-legged strong among them,
such as lions and leopards, eat the weaker ducks and deer.
Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1581 – 1642)
Worship of the Golden Calf
Frans Francken II belonged to a family of artists that
produced numerous painters. His paintings were chiefly
of art galleries, but also included religious scenes, such
as that depicted here. In the foreground, the Israelites
are depositing their silver vessels and jewels at Aaron’s
feet. In the distance, they are dancing around the column
bearing the golden calf. Above left, Moses is descending
from Mount Sinai in company with Joshua; in despair, he
smashes the Tablets of the Law.
Hans Bol (Mechelen 1534 – Amsterdam 1593)
Flemish Kermis
Besides landscapes, Bol also painted Biblical and mythological scenes and genre pieces in a Renaissance tradition.
His work was influenced by that of Pieter Brueghel the
Elder and displays an affinity with Jacob Grimmer and
Joachim Patinir. The kermis (fair) was a Flemish feast that
celebrated the patron saint of the parish, and everyone
took part. The majority of the throng pictured here are
hard-working peasants. They are amusing themselves,
dancing and singing. Distancing themselves from the
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people, the rich burgesses and the nobility parade in their
expensive attire. Although there were, during those times,
as many holidays and days off as today (there was no
working on Sundays and there were thirty or forty saint’s
days on which no labour took place, either), free time was
largely taken up by religious duties.
Jerôme Duquesnoy II (Brussels 1602 – Ghent 1654)
Cimon and Pero (‘Caritas Romana’)
Duquesnoy was a Baroque sculptor and architect. This
marble sculpture by him depicts a popular Roman legend.
Cimon is incarcerated and sentenced to death by starvation. His daughter Pero visits him and succours him
with the milk from her breast, which gives him renewed
strength. On hearing the story, the town magistracy
decide to release Cimon. Very quickly, Pero became the
symbol of the loving devotion of a child to its parent. In
1654, Duquesnoy was caught engaging in sodomy with
two young assistants who were working with him on
the mausoleum of Bishop Antoine Triest, and was subsequently strangled and burnt on the Korenmarkt in Ghent.
Attributed to Artus Quellinus I (Antwerp 1609 – 1668)
Aeneas Bearing His Father Anchises Away From
the Burning Troy
Quellinus was one of the most important sculptors of
the seventeenth century; he was influenced in Rome by
Duquesnoy and in Antwerp by Rubens. The wanderings
of Aeneas – half god, and leader of the Trojans – are set
out in detail in Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid. With his
old father on his back, Aeneas flees from the burning Troy
to build a new life elsewhere. Ultimately, he ends up in
Latium, where his descendants Romulus and Remus were
to lay the foundations of a new city, Rome.
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Attributed to Michiel Coignet (Antwerp 1618 – ca. 1663)
Art cabinet with scenes from the Metamorphosis of Ovid
Art cabinets or curiosa chests served to house small
objects, such as jewellery, letters and coins. They were
generally included in the inventory of the goods of a rich
patrician. This example is ornamented with miniature
paintings of scenes from the Metamorphosis of the Roman
poet Ovid, such as the story of Meleager and Atalanta on
the left-hand panel and the Sacrifice of Iphigenia on the
right-hand panel.
Attributed to Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1581 – 1642)
Art cabinet painted with scenes from Genesis
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. NM 4789
Like their colleagues from Augsburg, Antwerp furniture
makers crafted splendid art cabinets. Manufacture of
these started already in the sixteenth century, but unlike
German furniture, which was made exclusively in ebony
and other expensive types of wood, the doors and drawers of the Antwerp cabinets were decorated differently,
with small paintings or embroidery. In Antwerp, dozens of
cabinet painters were working for the major art dealers of
the time, such as Forchondt.
Flemish bulbous-leg table, first quarter of the
seventeenth century
Displayed on this table are a number of seventeenthcentury rariora:
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Frederik Hildebrand (sixteenth century)
Ceremonial goblet in vermeil,
with mythological scenes in cartouches
Attributed to Rombout de Raisier
(Antwerp ca. 1573 – before 1638)
The Van Nispen tazza
1615
This tazza (a saucer-shaped cup mounted on a foot),
originally a drinking vessel, is a showpiece cup conceived
for Balthasar van Nispen, Provost of the Brabant Mint. It is
likely that Van Nispen himself had it made to commemorate the visit of the Archdukes Albrecht and Isabella.
Another possibility is that the minters presented it to Van
Nispen on the occasion of his marriage in 1621.
The vessel is a fine specimen of silver-gilt (vermeil) work
and shows the interior of a mint workshop, with minters at
work in the foreground. Balthasar van Nispen is depicted
in the middle. He is handing over what is presumably a
coin to Archduke Albrecht and Archduchess Isabella.
To the top of the scene are two putti with the crowned
coat-of-arms of Spain. A banderole in Spanish carries the
inscription ’I entrust the administration of justice to you to
carry it out’. From the added engraved text, we know that
this encounter took place on 26 August 1615. Depicted
on the foot of the tazza are the coats-of-arms of Balthasar
van Nispen, his wife and the Antwerp Mint, as well as
emblems reminiscent of the minters’ craft. The coat-ofarms of Brabant is depicted on the stem.
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Jan Gaspard Gevartius (Antwerp 1593 – 1666)
Pompa Introitus
Antwerp, Johannes Meursius, 1642
This book describes and illustrates the Joyous Entry of the
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635; it contains forty-three
etched plates, most of which by Theodoor van Thulden
to designs by Peter Paul Rubens. The Cardinal-Infante
Ferdinand was cardinal and archbishop of Toledo and the
brother of the Spanish King Philip IV, who named him as
successor to the Archduchess Isabella who died in 1633.
Under the direction of alderman Nicolaas Rockox, the
city clerk Jan Gaspard Gevartius and Peter Paul Rubens,
Antwerp prepared impressive street decorations to show
itself at its best to the new prince. The city treasury was
unable to finance the entire operation, estimated at
36 000 guilders, and Rockox lent it 8 000 guilders. In
addition, the duty on beer was increased to help defray
the cost of these large-scale festivities.
Antwerp jewel box with engraved silver foil
Second half of the seventeenth century
Twelve small plates in silver foil tell the story of Abraham
and Joseph, the majority of them after drawings by Hans
Hanssen (1605 – after 1630) and Christoffel van Sichem II
(Basel 1571/91–1658). On the inside of the lid is the Allegory of Faith and Hope, after engravings by Jacob Matham
(Haarlem, 1571–1631).
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Marten Rijckaert (Antwerp 1587 – 1631)
Landscape
Rijckaert was born and grew up in Antwerp. Like Rubens,
he was a pupil of Tobias Verhaecht. He travelled to Italy
and in 1611 became a member of the Antwerp Guild of
St. Luke. His paintings bear the influence of Italian landscape painting and are notable for their rocky, wooded
landscapes often featuring waterfalls, ruins and other
conspicuous pieces of architecture. His work is comparable
to that of Joos de Momper II.
Adriaen Thomasz. Key (Antwerp 1534/54 – after 1589)
The Last Supper
This Last Supper is painted on the reverse of two wings of
a triptych whose middle panel is now lost. Key painted the
work in 1574 to a commission from the merchant Gillis
de Smidt and his wife, Maria de Deckere. In the following
year, the piece was set on the high altar of the Church
of the Recollects in Antwerp, but was removed less than
three years later under pressure from the Calvinists.
Following the recapture of the city by the Catholics in
1585, the altarpiece was restored to its original position. In
1619, it was replaced by Rubens’s Coup de Lance, a painting paid for by Nicolaas Rockox. It is that link that justifies
the exhibition of The Last Supper here. Altarpieces of these
dimensions were not found in patrician residences.
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Signed and dated BRUEGHEL 1600
The Magi, or three kings from the Orient, and their particularly numerous retinues visit the newly born Child Jesus
in a tumbledown farm building in Bethlehem. The feel for
detail in this small painting on copper is simply stunning.
Two years earlier, Jan Brueghel I had painted two similar
‘Adorations’ in a slightly larger format: the first in gouache
on parchment (National Gallery, London), the second in oil
on copper (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).
Travellers on the Way
Monogrammed
This painting bears witness to the technical skill of Jan
Brueghel I. He represents an important link in the history
of landscape painting. This work would have been painted
around 1610 and exhibits a very refined technique in
pushing the perspective of the panorama to the limit. To
that end, he employed two colour zones: a brown in front
of a blue. He depicts a number of his figures with their
back to the viewer, and has them moving in the direction
of a distant village, treatment that further underlines the
perspective.
Mary in Adoration Before the Sleeping Child Jesus
This painting, done around 1616, is a reference to Rubens’s
marital bliss. Here, as is so often the case with his religious
paintings, we at once recognise members of Rubens’s
immediate family. His first wife, Isabella Brant, was probably the model for the Virgin, and in the Child Jesus we
distinguish the features of Nicolaas, his second son.
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Daniel Seghers (Antwerp 1590 – 1661)
and Cornelis Schut I (Antwerp 1597 – 1655)
Madonna in a Floral Wreath
The formula of a Madonna in a floral wreath was introduced into Flemish art by Jan Brueghel I and Peter Paul
Rubens. After Brueghel, the Jesuit Daniel Seghers was
without doubt the most important exponent of flower
painting in the Southern Netherlands. This painter-priest
kept a list totalling 239 pieces painted by him, several of
them commissioned as diplomatic gifts. Seghers painted
the piece here in co-operation with the history painter
Cornelius Schut, who is known chiefly for his sumptuous,
large-scale compositions.
Morpho menelaus – the Menelaus Blue Morpho
Butterflies and other naturalia were much sought after
objects among the wealthy patricians. They evidenced
travel to distant destinations and often decorated the art
cabinets of the time. These morphos were highly attractive, with their beautiful iridescent blue wings whose
colour changes with the light striking at different angles.
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Room 5
The room behind the Great Parlour
Study
Next to the art gallery in Rockox’s time was a retreat, a studiolo, where there was place not
only for paintings, but also curiosa and smaller objects – more particularly of study – and where
the patrician could spend time in enquiry and contemplation. The inventory of Rockox’s house
notes that this room behind the Great Parlour held twenty paintings, various shells, ten marble
busts, five plaster busts and some figures in ebony, ivory and marble. There was also a portfolio
containing prints of portraits and landscapes, though these were not further specified. The shells
were curiosa from the South Seas; the names on the busts helped Rockox to give a face to
Roman history; the plaster busts were probably casts of the marble busts in his collection, handy
to take with him to show friends and fellow-collectors. The portrait prints (conterfeytsels) in
the portfolio were probably a number of fine engravings of Rockox’s contemporaries from the
Iconografie series by Anthony van Dyck. Rockox had a second study – his comptoir or office –
on the first floor; it was here that he kept his coins and books. It was in fact not uncommon for
a house to have several studies.
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Art cabinet
Italy?, mid-seventeenth century
Art cabinets were made to hold all kinds of trinket, including jewellery, coin collections, documents, letters, etc., and
are symbolic, perhaps, of the numerous curiosa collected
by patricians. The front of this piece of furniture is designed
as an architectural trompe l’oeil. The doors enclose drawers,
one of which conceals a further, secret drawer behind it.
Joos de Momper II (Antwerp 1564 – 1635),
Hendrick van Balen I (Antwerp 1573 – 1632),
Minerva’s Visit to the Muses
Signed BALE MOMPER BRVEGHEL
Hendrick van Balen I painted the figures, Joos de Momper II
the landscape and Jan Brueghel I the flowers. In the painting, we see the goddess Minerva (left) visiting the Muses
on Mount Helicon, near the Gulf of Corinth. To the right
rises the Hippocrene, a sacred spring that brought inspiration to anyone drinking from or bathing in it. According to
the myth, it had been struck from the earth by the hoof of
the horse Pegasus. A feature to note is the picture’s finely
ornamented late-seventeenth-century frame.
Roelant Savery (Kortrijk 1576 – Utrecht 1639)
Horses and Cattle
Savery painted chiefly landscapes in the Flemish tradition
of Gillis van Coninxloo II, in which animals and plants
occupied a prominent place within a mythological, Biblical or moralising context. Sometime in 1603 or 1604,
Roelant Savery went to Prague, where he was appointed
court painter by Emperor Rudolf II, a Habsburg prince who
invited several artists to his court in the city. In the scene
here, all the creatures appear to be battling each other,
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both on the ground and in the air; people in the village to
the right in the background are also joining in.
Gonzales Coques (Antwerp 1614/18 – 1684)
The Five Senses: smell, touch, taste, hearing and vision
Coques is known mainly for his informal portraits of the
middle-class. He was influenced by Anthony van Dyck,
which earned him the sobriquet kleine van Dyck (the little
van Dyck). It is said that these five small panels are portraits
of artists. The man smelling the rolled-up tobacco leaf is
possibly the sculptor Lucas Fayd’herbe (Mechelen 1617–
1697), the man sharpening his pen the portrait painter
Pieter Meert (1619–1669) and the man with a rummer
of wine in his hand a self-portrait of Coques himself;
the flower painter Jan Philip van Thielen (1618–1667) is
seen singing and accompanying himself on the lute, and
the man modelling a figure is possibly Artus Quellinus I
(1609–1668).
The Collection of Paintings ‘of Sebastian Leerse’
It was initially thought, on the basis of a family portrait by
van Dyck in Kassel, that the persons depicted here could
be identified as the Antwerp merchant Sebastian Leerse
(°1594), his second wife and their son Jan Baptist. The
similarities, however, are quite superficial; furthermore, no
contemporary inventory of Leerse’s possessions exists that
could establish a link. In this ‘Art Gallery’ painting, Francken
has depicted works by or after Jan Massijs, Pieter Neefs I,
Joos de Momper II, Daniel van Heil, Bonaventura Peeters I
and himself. It was in this room that Rockox had his
own art gallery, which was likewise painted by Francken.
54
An Art Gallery
Signed F. FRANCK and dated three times (!): 1618 and 1619
Various objects lay or stand on the table in front of the
wall: an album with a drawing by Frans Floris I, a Henri IV
medallion, Greek and Roman coins, shells, a lacquered
box, a Japanese clasp, a shark’s tooth and a sumptuous
bouquet of flowers. Also to be seen is a ‘Landscape with
Mill’ by Jan Brueghel I (now in Dresden) and the self-portrait
by the miniaturist Simon Bening. Hanging on the wall are
landscapes by Bril, Lytens, de Momper and Govaerts, as
well as a few religious scenes, including a ‘Madonna in a
Floral Wreath’ by Francken himself. To the right, men with
ass’s ears are smashing up symbols of art and science.
The outburst of iconoclasm was still fresh in the memory.
The Prodigal Son
Ca. 1618, possibly revised 1630
The Biblical parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15, 11–32)
tells how the younger of two sons demands his inheritance from his father. Taking that inheritance with him, the
son departs to distant regions, where he squanders it all.
Full of remorse, he ultimately returns to his father, who
receives him forgivingly. The composition is a masterly exercise in balance, although Rubens has not simply painted a
Flemish farm in full bustle. A number of animals suggest
images of vice and allude to sinful behaviour. Rubens kept
this masterpiece until his death. Subsequently, it belonged
to, among others, the Antwerp art dealer Diego Duarte,
Pieter van Aertselaer – in whose collection it was seen by
Sir Joshua Reynolds – and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
55
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Christ on the Cross
1628
Rubens prepared this oil sketch in 1628 to serve as a
design for an altarpiece commissioned by the Church of
St. Michael, Ghent. In that year and 1629, however, he
was abroad on a diplomatic mission in first Madrid and
then London, where he helped to prepare the peace
treaty between Spain and England, concluded on 15
November 1630. Being consequently unable to undertake
the commission, he asked Anthony van Dyck to do the
work in his stead. The altarpiece is still on display in the
Church of St. Michael.
Pieter Claesz. Soutman? (Haarlem 1593/1601 – 1657)
The Four Evangelists
Private collection
Because this oil sketch is very similar to sketches by
Rubens, it is no wonder that it was previous ascribed to
the master himself. It is not to be excluded that what we
have here is a study by Pieter Claesz. Soutman, a painter
of whose activity in Rubens’s atelier little is so far known.
There is a similar, signed composition dated 1615 in the
Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.
Visit to the Farm
A couple in bourgeois apparel and accompanied by a
maid, is visiting a farm. A farming family is seated together
in a room. A child is looking for a tip from the rich guests.
Close to the fire, an infant is being nursed. As was
customary with a maternity visit, the father of the newborn
child is being offered a cinnamon loaf. Prints are pinned to
the backrest of the bench and include a ‘Calvary’. To the
rear hangs a cage holding a magpie. This finely worked
56
grisaille is probably based on a lost composition by Pieter
Brueghel I.
Two Female Heads and the Torso of a Warrior
(until 16 June 2013 in the Fridericianum –
Museumslandschaft Hessen – in Kassel)
Jordaens painted these studies around 1620/23. He used
the torso of the man (left) for a warrior in a design for the
tapestry Alexander at the Battle of Issus. The two female
heads appear in mirror image in Homage to Ceres in the
Prado, Madrid.
Adoration of the Shepherds
Jordaens portrayed the Adoration of the Shepherds several
times and in different ways; numerous surviving drawings, sketches and paintings illustrate the theme. He
often employed the same layouts and more than one
work was done with atelier help. This method of working sometimes led to stereotyping and to works that
are difficult to date and not always equally successful.
Jordaens prepared this composition sketch for an altarpiece that comes from the chapel of the former episcopal palace and is now in the Antwerp Royal Museum of
Fine Arts (inv. 221).
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The Ecstasy of St. Augustine
Van Dyck made this sketch in underpainting for a large
altarpiece in the Church of St. Augustine. The artist delivered the canvas in 1628. This work is on long-term loan in
the Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts. Brown sketching
and a little, summary, nervous white highlighting are sufficient to suggest the relief of the composition.
Two Studies of a Man’s Head
(from June 2013)
Van Dyck was an important portrait painter of the second
quarter of the seventeenth century. A talent of his was to
give particular character to his portraits. He spent some
time in England and consequently exercised considerable
influence on English portrait painting from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Van Dyck made this oil
sketch during his first Antwerp period, probably around
1618. It is the study for a man’s head that acted as a
model for various depictions of St. Jerome.
Jan Boeckhorst (Münster 1604 – Antwerp 1668)
Apollo and Diana Slay the Children of Niobe
Between 1664 and 1668, the Antwerp alderman and
collector Antoon van Leyen commissioned Boeckhorst to
prepare a series of eight studies of the life of Apollo as
cartoons for tapestries. This oil sketch is one of those studies. Apollo and Diana slay the seven sons and daughters of
Niobe with bow and arrow, an act of revenge for Niobe’s
disdainful treatment of the goddess Leto, the mother of
Apollo and Diana. The tapestries are currently distributed
among the Patrimonio Nacional in Madrid, the Spanish
embassy in London, and a Belgian private collection.
58
Lucas Franchoys II (Mechelen 1616 – 1681)
Adoration of the Shepherds
Franchoys made various altarpieces for churches in
Mechelen and was substantially influenced by Anthony
van Dyck. He was the nephew of the sculptor Lucas
Fayd’herbe. Franchoys painted this oil sketch in preparation
for an altarpiece in the Church of the Recollects in Doornik.
That work is dated 1650 and is currently in that town’s
episcopal palace. Notable are the two female figures in
grisaille who flank the scene and represent the theological virtues Caritas (Charity) and Fides (Faith). Apparently,
the painter also produced the designs for the sculptures,
pilasters and ornaments that were to frame his altarpiece.
Gillis Claesz. de Hondecoeter
(Antwerp 1575 – Amsterdam 1638)
The Baptism of the Moorish Chamberlain
De Hondecoeter was a pupil of Gillis van Coninxloo II
(Antwerp 1544 – Amsterdam 1607). In the tradition of
this last, this scene is set in a forest landscape. It was
van Coninxloo II who, together with others in the midsixteenth century, developed the landscape into an independent genre, this painting being a fine example. The
landscape is used as background, the trees serving as the
wings of the setting, which is the story of the baptism of
the Moorish chamberlain, a theme taken from the Acts
of the Apostles (8: 26-40). Commanded by an angel, the
deacon Philip is travelling from Jerusalem to Gaza. On the
road, he falls in with the Moorish chamberlain returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Moor has been
reading the Book of Isaiah in his carriage, but does not
understand the content. Philip offers to explain it to him
and, using the Old Testament, he preaches the teaching
of Christ. Arriving at a stream, the chamberlain requests
baptism.
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Hans Jordaens III (Antwerp 1595 – 1643)
David meets Abigail
The mountainous landscape is reminiscent of the work of
Joos de Momper II. The story of David and Abigail is based
on the writings of Samuel (25, 1-15). After Samuel’s death,
David withdrew to the Desert of Maon, where a very
wealthy man, Nabal, lived with his wife Abigail. Nabal,
though, was surly and bad-tempered. David sent ten
young men to greet him, wish him peace and to request
hospitality. Nabal rejected them brutally, which angered
David who thereupon set out with about 400 soldiers
on a punitive expedition against Nabal. Abigail, being
apprised of this, betook herself with her servants and a
great quantity of bread, meat and figs to David without
her husband’s knowledge. She prostrated herself before
David, offered him her gifts and with great eloquence
persuaded him to abandon his revenge. In the meantime,
Nabal had been giving a great feast at which he had fallen
into a drunken stupor. When he had sobered up, Abigail
told him the truth of what she had done; dismayed, he
expired. David then took Abigail to wife, to which she
readily agreed.
60
Attributed to Paul de Vos (Hulst 1595 – Antwerp 1678)
Bird Concert
An owl as concertmaster holds a music book and conducts
a throng of warbling, calling and screeching woodland
and field birds, and waterfowl. A few exotic birds have
joined the gaudy company: a toucan, an Amazon parrot
and a red macaw. This is a depiction of one of Aesop’s
fables, but there is also a link with a famous saying of the
Dutch poet Jacob Cats: ’Elck vogeltge singt soo ’t gebeckt is’
(every bird sings with the beak it’s been given). The canvas
is a copy of a composition by Frans Snijders in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Until recently, the work was thought
to be by Jan Van Kessel I (Antwerp 1626–1679), who is
known principally for his detailed, small-scale studies of
insects, flowers and shells. The style is even more reminiscent of that of Snijders’ brother-in-law, Paul de Vos.
Joannes Fijt (Antwerp 1611 – 1661)
Bird Concert
Fijt was a pupil of Frans Snijders and a noted painter of
animals. In the seventeenth century, ‘Bird Concerts’ were
a popular theme and often ironic allusions. The red macaw
sets the beat with its upraised claw. Except for the Flemish
jay, none of the birds depicted here – a hen, a parrot, a
blue heron, a cockerel, a pigeon and a peacock – can sing.
The score on the tree trunk is illegible. A parody, perhaps?
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Willem van Aelst (Delft 1627 – Amsterdam 1683/84)
Fruit and Wineglass
Signed and dated Guillme van Aelst 1659
In this masterly still life, this Dutch painter of floral and
hunting still lifes uses the glass rummer to reflect his
image and the windows of his atelier. Green vine leaves
fade to blue as time passes. From the collection of the
Belgian physician and mineralogist François-Xavier de
Burtin (1743–1818).
Frans Snijders (Antwerp 1579 – 1657)
Still Life
1616
The work of Frans Snijders consists largely of hunting
scenes and still lifes, including monumental market scenes
and displays of fruit. Not only are these paintings a feast
for the eye, they are also an important source of information about the eating habits of the seventeenth-century
citizen. Fruit was an important component of the daily
diet of the wealthy patrician and was customarily served
with game. The painting is dated 1616, midway into the
Twelve-year Truce. This ravishing basket of fruit is a reference to the prosperity enjoyed during the temporary
truce, during which the Scheldt was briefly reopened, to
the benefit of the Antwerp economy.
62
Peter Willebeeck (Antwerp before 1632 – after 1646)
Still Life
This work, too, is a fine example of the theme of transience. To illustrate transience or vanity, Willebeeck turned
to everyday objects that refer to conceit or hollowness.
The fallen rummer, tazza and Westerwald jug are empty,
the lighted cigar is going out, the pipe has been finished
and there is no further life in the shell. Here, Willebeeck is
pointing chiefly to the transitoriness of luxuries, drink and
the stupefying pleasure of tobacco.
Five-door cupboard
Antwerp, 1621.
This skilfully carved cupboard, with fine cherub heads,
lion muzzles and symmetrically carved decorative motifs
on panels, holds:
Venetian-type Glasses
Antwerp (‘serpent’ glass), Liège (clear wine glass),
mid-seventeenth century
Venetian glassblowers gained fame when, around the
mid-fifteenth century, they discovered how to produce
colourless glass, which was often enhanced with decorative
elements in enamel. Painted ‘Art Galleries’ and depictions
of curiosa cabinets from the seventeenth century often
feature a Venetian glass. Although it was intended to keep
the secret of the technique of glass-blowing within the
confines of Venice, more particularly within Murano itself,
celebrated glassblowers were, from the second quarter of
the sixteenth century on, lured to other European centres
with promises of all sorts of privileges. Venetian-type
glasses were blown at Antwerp, among other places.
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Porcelain plate with The Coup de Lance by Rubens
Qing dynasty, Jingdezhen, ca. 1710 – 1720
A Chinese painter from the porcelain town of Jingdezhen
has placed Rubens’ print after his altarpiece The Coup de
Lance in a colourful scene. ‘Jesuit porcelain’ of this kind
was very popular in Europe at that time. This example
illustrates that Rubensian imagery was very quickly reproduced in the so-called ‘applied arts’. A similar plate is in
the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Coins
Rockox possessed a considerable collection of coins, notable for their quality and chronological completeness. He
drew up a catalogue in which he listed both his coin and
antiquarian collection. The coin collection consisted chiefly
of bronze, silver and gold pieces from the time of the
Roman empire and the Roman Republic. It also included a
smaller number of Greek pieces. It is not known just how
many gold coins that Rockox had, as his catalogue notes
that part of the collection was already in the possession
of Gaston d’Orléans, the brother of Louis XIII. On the title
page of his catalogue, Rockox himself noted a total of
1 129 silver and bronze coins, 744 silver and 385 bronze.
Laocoön
Italy, early seventeenth century
The original Laocoön group was sculpted in ca. 25 B.C.
(School of Rhodos) and was excavated in Rome in 1506.
Greek sculpture inspired the Renaissance ideal of beauty.
The story of Laocoön takes place at the end of the Trojan
War, in 1184 B.C. As a Trojan priest, he was charged with
the cult of the god Poseidon, whom he angered by breaking his oath of celibacy. Laocoön also played a crucial role
in the fall of Troy, warning – to no avail – of the wooden
horse. Baroque painters took inspiration from the head, a
brilliant depiction of human suffering.
64
Lucas Fayd’herbe (Mechelen 1617 – 1697)
Madonna and the Infant Jesus
Fayd’herbe worked in Mechelen as an architect and sculptor. He was also for a time a pupil of Rubens, from whom
he learnt chiefly the language of form of the Baroque,
which he translated into sculpture. This ‘Madonna with the
Infant Jesus’ was conceived at the high point of his career,
ca. 1675. It radiates a Baroque expressiveness and displays
commensurate attention to finely detailed finishing.
Plaster Bust of Anachreon/Demosthenes
Seventeenth century
Plantin-Moretus Museum / Print Collection, Antwerp
(until December 2013)
The Anachreon/Demosthenes bust was one of Rockox’s
star items. The work consists of two parts: the base with
the inscription ‘Demosthenes’ and a portrait head. They
were not originally part of the same work, but were probably fitted together in the sixteenth century. Subsequent
research has shown Demosthenes (384–322 B.C.) to have
had a different physiognomy. The Greek portrait looks
more like the Ionian poet Anachreon (ca. 570 B.C.) than
the Athenian orator Demosthenes. The original is in the
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Rockox had plaster casts
made of this and other of his marble images. The plaster
casts probably served to make the collection better known
or to give his circle of humanists better access to them.
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Antwerp art cabinet
First half of the seventeenth century
This notable art cabinet is decorated with carefully embroidered depictions of fruit, flowers, trees and poultry on a
light silk background. Various embroidery stitches beautify not only the external panels of the two interior doors,
but also the inner side of the folding lid and the front
panels of the drawers and portico. The interior panels of
the doors bear, centred in an oval, depictions of a winged
griffon jumping up against a parasol tree, all embroidered
in gold and silver thread, as well as coloured silk thread.
Adriaen Brouwer (Oudenaarde ca. 1605 – Antwerp 1638)
Card Players and Carousers
After spending some time at Amsterdam and Haarlem,
where he was allegedly apprenticed to Frans Hals, Brouwer
became a free master at Antwerp around 1631/1632. The
sixty or so paintings of his that we know of are among the
pick of Flemish genre painting. His work gained a wide
following and his name very rapidly became synonymous
with inn scenes. Seventeenth-century inventories list
many ‘brouwerkens’ or works of this nature. Card Players
and Carousers is an early work from his brush; to an extent,
it still owes a debt to Brueghel’s caricatural depictions,
but nevertheless heralds the naturalness and subtlety of
Brouwer’s later work, as exemplified in Old Man in an Inn,
also in this exhibition.
66
Adriaen Brouwer (Oudenaarde ca. 1605 – Antwerp 1638)
Old Man in an Inn
Collection of the Flemish Community, on long-term loan to the
Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts. inv. IB 08.004
Adriaen Brouwer died at an early age, but rapidly became
a cult figure. His paintings were highly prized, Rubens
boasting seventeen of them. Old Man in an Inn is an
impressively tranquil painting from the artist’s last years.
In the background, an amorous couple is being observed
from above. In the foreground, in a masterful depiction,
an old citizen is drowsing. Note particularly the brushstrokes, as fine as hair, with which the crinkled ruff and
the ravaged face are depicted.
David Teniers II (Antwerp 1610 – 1690)
Village Feast
Teniers continued the tradition of the Brueghel dynasty
and found his inspiration in rural life. This ‘Village Feast’
was painted around 1650 and depicts merry-making
peasants, albeit in somewhat romantic and idyllic fashion. Teniers lived at a time when it was very common to
burden audiences with moral lessons and particularly with
references to the transience of earthly existence. A horse’s
skull is depicted on a small lean-to at the side of the inn:
in general, a skull is viewed as a symbol of transitoriness;
a horse’s skull lacking the lower jaw indicates licentious
merry-making, foolishness and stupidity.
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Flemish bulbous-leg table
First quarter of the seventeenth century
Writing cabinet
Rhineland, second quarter of the seventeenth century
This writing cabinet is inlaid with various kinds of wood
and, like art cabinets, has secret drawers.
68
Town Garden
The inner courtyard is an evocation of an early seventeenth-century Renaissance town
garden. No illustrations exist that could give us an idea of what Rockox’s garden looked
like, but written sources suggest an attractive area of greenery. From his correspondence
with the French humanist Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc, we know that, in two successive
years, Rockox was sent twelve plants from the distant Aix-en-Provence. In his library, he also
had eight botanical books by the most renowned authors, including Dodoens and Clusius;
botanical books were among the most expensive publications of that time. Rockox also had
a copy of Le théâtre d’Agriculture, a book by the famous French landscape architect, Olivier
de Serre, which includes various plans for town gardens, plans that served as a source of
inspiration for the layout of the present Rockox House garden.
Bust of Homer
Italy, seventeenth century
Rockox probably collected busts in order to gain a better
understanding of Roman history. He kept a catalogue of
the antiquarian items in his collection, listing nineteen
busts of Roman heads of state, orators and mythological
figures. This marble bust of Homer was never in his collection , but is representative of it. Homer lived in the ninth
century B.C. and was a singer-poet, famous for his epics,
The Iliad and The Odyssey.
69
Colophon
Texts
Hildegard Van de Velde
Nico Van Hout
Translation
KBC Language Services Department
Design
Anne Van den Berghe
Photo credits
KBC Erwin Donvil, Lucas-Art in Flanders vzw,
Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts
Co-ordination
Bert Peeters
www.kmska.be
www.rockoxhuis.be
Publishers: VZW Museum Nicolaas Rockox, Keizerstraat 12, 2000 Antwerp
and KMSKA, Lange Kievitstraat 111-113 bus 100, 2018 Antwerp

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Transcription

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