Baroque in the Southern Netherlands

With the website ‘Baroque in the Southern Netherlands’ we are revealing one of our most important art-historical collections to the world.

Peter Paul Rubens, Descent from the Cross, 1611-1614, Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp - CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, image artinflanders.be, photo Hugo Maertens

In the Southern Netherlands, the Baroque corresponds roughly with the historical period between the Fall of Antwerp and the Treaty of Utrecht, when the region changed hands from Spain to Austria. The website covers the relatively easy-to-define group of painters from the Southern Netherlands from the end of the 16^th century to the beginning of the 18^th century.

Collection

The website displays the Baroque collections from nine museums (KMSKA, MSK-Ghent, Groeningemuseum, St Jan’s Hospital Bruges, Rubenshuis, Plantin-Moretus Museum, Mayer van den Bergh Museum of Antwerp, Rockoxhuis Museum, City Museum De Hofstadt Diest and eight churches and cathedrals (St Bavo’s Cathedral and St Michael’s church in Ghent, the St Andries, St Paul’s and St Carolus Borromeus churches in Antwerp, St Martin’s church in Zaventem and St Rombouts Cathedral in Mechelen). Antwerp is the Baroque city of Flanders, with the presence of no less than nine heritage custodians from this city in the collections sector.

Explore the collection

Cornelis Schut I, Daniël Seghers, Jan van Balen, Saint Ignatius Surrounded by a Garland of Flowers — CC0, image artinflanders.be, photo Hugo Maertens

Joannes Fijt, Hunting Trophy with a Dead Peacock and a Boar’s Head — CC0, beeld artinflanders.be, foto Hugo Maertens

Adriaen Brouwer, Peasant drinking — CC0, photo Musea Antwerpen

Anthony van Dyck, The Lamentation over the dead Christ — CC0, artinflanders.be, photo Hugo Maertens

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Jan Breughel II, Adoration of the Magi — CC0, beeld artinflanders.be, foto Hugo Maertens

Jacob Jordaens I, The Daughters of Cecrops Finding the Child Erichthonius — CC0, image artinflanders.be, photo Hugo Maertens

Explore the collections

Moreover, the website offers thematic presentations of the collections on typical Baroque subjects such as art chambers, floral still lives, depictions of animals, mythology, and the art of portraiture.

Discover all themes

Artists

26 Baroque artists on the website have a biographical file.

Get acquainted with the Baroque artists

The whole world is familiar with the work of Rubens and Van Dyck, but also lesser-known Masters such as Joannes Fijt, Cornelis de Vos and the Quellinus family also receive full attention on the website.

Cornelis de Vos, Frans Vekemans, circa 1625, Museum Mayer van den Bergh, MMB.0070 - CC0, Foto Musea Stad Antwerpen

Go further

The rubric ‘research’ is furnished with articles about themes such as Baroque sculpture, the Flemish heritage of Rubens and the art of painting during the Baroque.

Via the website you can also get an overview of the museums from around the world that conserve an important Baroque collection from the Southern Netherlands.

Bert Watteeuw (Rubenianum, Antwerp) assembled an overview list with reference literature on the Baroque from the Southern Netherlands. This representative list combines the essential sources and literature, from general reference works to monographs.

Collaboration

Thanks to the collaboration with Artinflanders.be (previously Lukas, Art in Flanders) and the service of Museums and Heritage Antwerp, the website is richly illustrated. The Rubenianum guarantees the scientific and art-historical information.

Interested in Baroque in the Southern Netherlands?

Visit the website

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