The Koninklijk Museum
voor Schone Kunsten or Royal Museum of Fine Arts has an awesome collection of
paintings, dating from the 14th century right up to contemporary times. The
collection includes masterworks from the 15th-century Flemish likes of Jan Van
Eyck and Rogier Van der Weyden, from 17th-century exponents of baroque like
Rubens and Antoon Van Dyck, and from more recent creative types like James
Ensor, Constant Permeke and surrealist René Magritte. The collection numbers
more than 7,200 works of art, consisting of 3,200 painting, 3,600 drawings and
prints, and 400 sculptures.
The earliest nucleus of the museum has its origin with the
Antwerp Guild of St Luke to which the city's artists belonged between 1382 and
1773. In 1663 an academy was founded under the guild's auspices. In 1773, the Academy
of Fine Arts took possession of the
guild's gallery. The rather limited composition of the Academy's museum started
to grow in the 19th century through generous donations. The gallery passed into
the ownership of the state in 1927.
Museum Plantin-Moretus
The Museum Plantin-Moretus details the printing dynasty
founded by Christoffel Plantin in 1548. One of the prime exhibits is a rare,
painstakingly assembled Gutenberg Bible. Christophe Plantin, considered the greatest of the early printers after
Gutenburg, established himself in 1548 in Antwerp, organized his printing atelier and library
in this house in 1576. He printed 1860 books in “all the languages of the
Christian world” and the prestige of the house became so great that king
Philippe II of Spain promoted him to his official printer. Moretus, his son in law, continued
his work, still imitated by his successors until1876. The interior has been
very well remade as in the time of Plantin. The house includes sumptuous
apartments, hand presses, cases full of lead characters, printing material, a fabulous
private library and print cabinet.