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The Plantin Moretus Museum (www.museumplantinmoretus.be) is located at the Vrijdagmarkt (Friday Market) in Antwerp. The museum is the original residence and workshop of the Plantin and Moretus publishing dynasty who were world renowned for their entrepreneurial skills. Plantin moved his family to the residence in 1576 and his family lived and worked there for the next 300 years. Throughout those years, the "Gulden Compass" as the house was named changed and expanded in size to fit the ever growing business. Walking through the museum which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, you are transported back in time by about about 400 years. It is the only museum on the prestigious UNESCO world heritage list mainly because of the uniqueness of the museum. It includes a prestigious mansion, the only fully equipped printing workshop from the 16th century, the world's largest selection of Plantin and Moretus editions,... Walking through the house, you can admire the original wall coverings and creaking oak floors from the 16th century, but also the oldest printing presses in the world . Within the walls of the patrician house is a quiet garden where the noises from the city are blocked by the old buildings surrounding it.
Where the bottom floor is accessible for everybody, wheelchairs won't be able to access the first floor. This floor has many floor level changes. Starting with the ground floor, it is here that you find the impressive workshop that once was the beating heart of the business. With a 56 strong workforce, it was the largest business of its kind in the world at this time. First used in 1580, it contained 16 presses. Two of the presses date back to the 16th century where the others are from the 17th and 18th century. Where the compositors would set the lead type in a composing stick to form a line, these lines would then be assembled on a sturdy board to form the page.
The great library is still organised today like a private humanistic library of the 17th century, with high shelves filled with books arranged according to size, lecterns, globes and busts. The museum now contains the largest selection of Plantin and Moretus editions, many of which are on display. The old shop is another interesting part of the house. With its counter and cabinets still intact, the shop used to sell the books as loose sheets. If a customer wanted a book, then they had to bring the loose sheets to a bookbinder. Within the shop, you can still see the money scale for checking silver and gold coins. Another room that intrigued me was the room where they made the lead letters, copper plates and wooden blocks used during the printing process. Everything was managed in house in those days, although Plantin had set up an international distribution network of booksellers who would help him sell his books.
But the museum offers so much more, you can admire a rich art collection that include portraits by Rubens. the museum's collection of paintings includes 71 portraits. it was Balthasar Moretus who asked his good friend Peter Paul Rubens to make portraits of his grandparents.
In the upstairs rooms, you find room upon room with original books, manuscripts and original prints. Within the extensive collection are atlases, science books, almanac's and many more publications. And this extensive collection is available online.
And last but not least, there is the fabulous courtyard garden. Already famous during Pantin's own time, it was frequently visited by kings, princes and prominent figures. The garden you see nowadays was created in 1992 using plants that were popular during the 16th and 17th centuries. Being a close friend to some of the greatest botanists of his day must have helped him in designing the garden. Botanists like Rembert Dodoens had their books publicized through Plantin, many which can still be admired in the museum.
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KMSKA or the Royal museum of fine Arts Antwerp opened its doors again on 24th September 2022 after 10 years of extensive rebuilding . Through the works, the museum gained 40% more exhibition space without impacting the structure of the historic building. The museum as it is now weaves old and new design seamless together to create a space where visitors can enjoy, discover, experience and participate without any obstacle. Tickets for the museum can be purchased in advance or can be bought from one of the ticket terminals at the entrance. The new entrance is modern and stands in stark contrast with the outside of the museum.
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) is the biggest art museum in Flanders. With masterpieces from the Flemish primitives and Antwerp Baroque to the extensive collection of modern art by, for example, Rik Wouters, Henri De Braekeleer and René Magritte. Level 1 - Modern Masters On level one, you find the modern masters with the crown jewel, the biggest collection of James Ensor in the world.
In the this part of the museum will also find the expo halls where you find temporary exhibitions. Current exhibitions are " the making of "which explains the renovation of the museum through pictures. The second exhibition is cosmorama, an exhibition where Ives Maes photographs the heritage of the world exhibitions. One of the halls is called the Light Hall, a pure white gallery where the painting are bathing in a stream of soft daylight. From this room, you can take a crisp white stairwell to level 3 where further modern masters are on display.
Level 2 - Old Masters On level 2, you find all the old masters. Ranging from Rubens to Van Eyck, this floor is just stunning. Within the museum are some modern touches interweaved with the old. For example, the huge purple hand that turns around every so often. Another impressive room is the VR room. Here you put on virtual reality glasses and you are transported back to Rubens workshop where you can see the many masters at work, follow the exploits of the workshop cat,...
The projection room is another impressive room where details from some of the paintings are projected on the room walls. Each new detail rolls around the room like a curtain, each time zooming in on some aspects of the paintings. The old masters range from Pieter Brueghel to Jacob Jordaens to Peter Paul Rubens, with some of the their largest masterpieces on display
Level# 3 - Drawings and sculptures On this floor, you find many drawings and sculptures Level# 4 - Modern Masters The top floor brings further modern masters. From Henri Van De Velde his "woman by the window", an amazing painting completed using the pointillism technique to many other masters, KMSKA is worth a visit. Where the museum opened under some negative critique back last year, I must disagree. KMSKA is just fabulous.
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About the AuthorWe are Peter & Dolores De Bie. We love the great outdoors, discovering new parts of the world and writing about our adventures along the Wild Atlantic Way and further afield Categories
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