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Thanks to the handy Rubens walking guide you can learn more about the life of Rubens and his contemporaries, based on the seven vices and virtues. Get a better idea of life in seventeenth-century Antwerp with fascinating stories and facts as you walk around the city. The jealousy of a former associate, the amazing art collection of Rubens’s friend, Mayor Rockox, why Rubens married a sixteen-year old girl at the age of 53... it’s all there. Obviously you will also learn how he became one of the greatest painters of his era and discover some magnificent artworks from Antwerp’s Golden Age. The Rubens walking guide costs only €3.50 and can be purchased from the Visit Antwerpen information desks and in the MASshop.

As the church with the most Rubens influence in Antwerp, the painter’s contribution to the decorations on the facade and top of the steeple was considerable. The Jesuit order commissioned the c onstruction of this typically Baroque church, built between 1615 and 1621

This Brabant Gothic-style church was built between 1491 and 1656. The gentry, the merchants and the city’s nobility wished to show off their wealth with a steeple that was meant to be higher than the cathe dral’s. Building work was halted at 55m due to lack of funds. The parishioners were, however, able to exhibit their wealth in the church itself, in its impressive and beautifully decorated interior. One of the attractions of this church is the tomb of Rubens behind the main altar in the Chapel of Our Lady. Rubens painted the painting, ‘Our Lady surrounded by saints’ for his own tomb.

Step inside the home of the greatest Baroque artist north of the Alps.

This museum was once the home of 17th century mayor Nicolaas Rockox, an art collector and also a friend of Rubens. The Rockox House is one of the host locations for the KMSKA, which will re-open in 2018 following its renovation. The exhibition The Golden Cabinetbrings together masterpieces from the KSMKA and the Rockox House, providing visitors with an idea of how an art room must have looked during the Golden Age. Collection Works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, Teniers, Breughel, Metsijs.