This summer, the museum is throwing the gates of the 17th century churches wide open. The unique exhibition ‘Divine Interiors’ takes you inside Antwerp’s churches from the Age of Rubens with their ancient architecture paintings and on a walk through the city.
The 16th century was one of the Catholic Church’s most turbulent periods in history. In 1566, the Iconoclastic Fury raged through Antwerp, which is when images of saints were banned in churches. Artists devoted themselves to a new style and painted the portrait of churches, resulting in divine interiors. These masterpieces in perspective from Hans Vredeman de Vries and Hendrik van Steenwijck, inter alia, grant a unique insight into daily life in Antwerp’s churches 400 years ago.
The church: prayer and meeting house
The exhibition shows what St Charles Borromeo Church looked like before the great fire, how the Cathedral was remodelled after the Calvinist regime and how it was used to network, party, gossip, beg and even play. A church was not only a place of worship, but also a meeting place. And the architecture painter – photographer before his time – was the privileged witness.
Church interiors to music
Especially for the ‘Divine Interiors’, music ensemble graindelavoix has recorded new work. It is performed for the first time at the exhibition and plays, in fact, an essential role in the experience of it.
The exhibition continues in the streets of Antwerp. An app guides you through the city and takes you along six Antwerp churches, two of which disappeared over the course of time: the Baroque church of the Discalced Carmelites and St Walburga Church. At these locations, the ancient churches are brought back to life in a 3D reconstruction.
Cathedral of Our Lady
www.dekathedraal.be
St Charles Borromeo Church
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St James’ Church
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St Paul’s Church
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