Rubens House Museum

The House of Rubens is the municipal museum of the city of Antwerp, dedicated to the life and work of the famous 17th century artist Peter Paul Rubens with a partial reproduction of his interiors and art collections.

Rubens began to build his own house in 1611, when he returned from Italy, lived for several years in the house of his father-in-law Jan Brant. With the acquisition of a large plot of land on Vaarstraat, seven-year construction of a house and workshop began. The project of the building was developed, most likely, by Rubens himself, because while in Italy he carefully studied architecture and even published a work on Genoese buildings.

The museum contains some excerpts, copies of paintings and portraits by the great artist, furniture of the XVII century, clothes, dishes and other items. The museum has few exhibits and items from Rubens’ collections, so it would be wrong to call it a memorial museum. However, the institution received two portraits of Bartholomeus Rubens and Barbara Arents (grandfather and grandmother of Rubens, artist – Jacob Klass van Utrecht). The exposition includes sketches of the master, portraits, copies of his paintings.

Among the paintings of the artist is his self-portrait. The furniture of the 17th century, paintings of predecessors and contemporaries of the master are presented. The House of Rubens positions itself as a center for the study of Flanders art from the Middle Ages to the Baroque.