The St Walburga Church (or Burchtkerk) in Antwerp, Belgium, formerly a parish church, was demolished in 1817.
The St Walburga Church (or Burchtkerk) in Antwerp, Belgium, formerly a parish church, was demolished in 1817.
The church's history predates the 8th century. The very first chapel built within the walls on the right bank of the Scheldt dates from 727, and was destroyed by the Normans in 836. In 900 a new burcht is built on the same spot with a new church, dedicated to Saint Walpurga, next to the fortress Het Steen. Under the direction of the Affligem monks the church is rebuilt in 1250, and in 1478 it becomes a parish church, also receiving a baptismal font and the right to bury. Another renovation, directed by architect de Waghemakere around 1500, again enlarges the church.
In 1609 the church council asked Peter Paul Rubens to paint a triptych for the church. His Elevation of the Cross was completed in 1610 and incorporated into the main altar. When in 1734 the old wooden altar was demolished and replaced by a stone altar made by Willem Ignatius Kerricx, smaller parts of Rubens's triptych were sold because they did not fit the new altar. The first mass at the high altar took place on 11 June 1737. The triptych was removed in 1794 by French occupying forces and taken to Paris, and was later returned to Antwerp's Cathedral of Our Lady.
In 1798 the church fell victim to the French urge to close monasteries and churches, and that same year the Antwerp diocese was abolished. The church was used as a warehouse. The choir, including a covered walkway to Het Steen, was retained for a while but in 1816 the church was sold, and demolished the year after. The last remains of it were destroyed by fire. In the meantime the St. Paul's Church had been designated as the parish church. The removal of the St. Walburga Church left an open space, now called the Burchtplein, on which a statue to Peter Paul Rubens was placed. When the banks of the Scheldt river were straightened, the square disappeared and the statue was moved to the Groenplaats.
The predella of the main altar representing the Raising of the brass snake made by Willem Ignatius Kerricx was reused for the main altar of the Antwerp Cathedral. [1] The cathedral also holds the two marble medallions represenintg Saint Walburga and Saint Eligius, which Kerricx has produced for the altar in the church. [2] Another altar was moved to the Saint Dionysius church in Tilburg, where it became the high altar. In 1936, a new, modernist church with the same name was built by Flor Van Reeth in the Zuid neighborhood of Antwerp.
Het Steen is a medieval fortress in the old city centre of Antwerp, Belgium, one of Europe's biggest ports. The surviving structure was built between 1200 and 1225 as a gateway to a larger castle of the Dukes of Brabant which was demolished in the 19th century. As the first stone fortress of Antwerp, Het Steen is Antwerp's oldest building and used to be its oldest urban centre. The words "Het Steen", are dutch for The Rock.
Walpurga or Walburga, also spelled Valderburg or Guibor, was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Frankish Empire. She was canonized on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Saint Walpurgis Night is the name for the eve of her feast day in the Medieval period, which coincided with May Day; her feast is no longer celebrated on that day, but the name is still used for May Eve.
The Cathedral of Our Lady is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's see of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. In Gothic style, its architects were Jan and Pieter Appelmans. It contains a number of significant works by the Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, as well as paintings by artists such as Otto van Veen, Jacob de Backer and Marten de Vos.
The Elevation of the Cross is the name of two paintings, a very large triptych in oil on panel and a much smaller oil on paper painting. Both pieces were painted by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp, Belgium, the original in 1610 and the latter in 1638.
St. James' Church is a former Collegiate church in Antwerp, Belgium. The church is built on the site of a hostel for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. The present building is the work of the Waghemakere family and Rombout Keldermans, in Brabantine Gothic style. The church contains the grave of Peter Paul Rubens in the eastern chapel.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.
Antwerp is the largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 square kilometres (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, it is the most populous city center in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in Belgium, after only Brussels.
Cornelis van der Geest was a spice merchant from Antwerp, who used his wealth to support the Antwerp artists and to establish his art collection. He was also the dean of the haberdashers guild.
St. Andrew’s Church is a Catholic church in Antwerp built in the 16th century. Its exterior is mainly characterised by a late-Gothic style while its interior is predominantly executed in Baroque style. It is the parish church of the Parish of St. Andrew’s. During the nineteenth century the St. Andrew's Parish was known as the parish of misery as it was by then mainly populated by poor people.
Johannes van Mildert or Hans van Mildert was a Flemish sculptor, who is best known for his baroque sculptures found in many Belgian and Dutch churches. Van Mildert played an important role in the development of the design of Flemish Baroque religious furniture.
The St. Paul's Church or Sint-Pauluskerk is a Roman Catholic church located at the Veemarkt in Antwerp. Its exterior is mainly Gothic with a Baroque tower while the interior is characterised by its rich Baroque decoration. It holds paintings by Antwerp's leading artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens as well as abundant sculpture and church furniture crafted by leading Antwerp sculptors such as Artus Quellinus the Elder, Pieter Verbrugghen I, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder, Jan Claudius de Cock and Andries Colyns de Nole. Of particular note is the Calvary outside the Church which is made up of 63 life-size statues and nine reliefs executed in a popular and theatrical style.
The St. Walburga Church is a 17th-century Roman-Catholic church in Bruges built by the Jesuits in a Baroque style. It is now a parish church and contains many valuable art objects.
Artus Quellinus II or Artus Quellinus the Younger was a Flemish sculptor who played an important role in the evolution of Northern-European sculpture from High Baroque to Late Baroque.
St Michael's Abbey in Antwerp was a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1124 by Norbert of Xanten and laid waste during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1807 a semaphore station was installed in the tower of the church. The buildings were demolished in 1831.
Frans Langhemans was a Flemish sculptor mainly active in Mechelen. He worked for a time as a court sculptor in Düsseldorf. He is mainly known for this church furniture and statues of saints.
The Rubens family is a Flemish noble family that lived in Antwerp.
Huibrecht, Hubrecht, Hubertus or Hubert van den Eynde was a Flemish sculptor. He is mainly known for his religious sculptures and church furniture although he also worked on some secular projects. He was the first prominent sculptor of the van den Eynde family of artists and merchants. In the early 17th century, van den Eynde was one of the leading Flemish sculptors who rejected contrived Mannerist formulae in favour of greater realism. His work shows a development from the early Baroque to the high Baroque. His late style is characterized by a penchant for movement and dashing draperies.
The Maagdenhuis Museum is an art museum and historical museum located in a 17th-century historic building on Lange Gasthuisstraat, Antwerp, Belgium. The building was used as an orphanage for the maegdeckens, or maidens, from the mid-16th century to the end of the 19th century. The museum presents a collection of utensils used on a daily basis by the foundlings and the orphans; a collection of antique furniture, and a series of documents relating to the orphanage and the life in it from the 16th century to 19th century.
Willem Kerricx or Willem Kerricx the Elder was a Flemish sculptor active in Antwerp. His works comprise mostly sculptured church furniture, individual sculptures, both portrait busts as well as statues of saints for churches and funerary monuments. His style shows the transition from the highly dramatic expressiveness of the Antwerp late Baroque towards a more gracious and elegant Rococo style. He operated a large workshop in Antwerp which was continued by his son into the middle of the 18th century.
Willem Ignatius Kerricx was a Flemish sculptor, painter, draftsman, architect, engineer, playwright and author active in Antwerp in the first half of the 18th century. His sculptural works comprise mostly sculptured church furniture, individual sculptures, mainly statues of saints for churches and a few funerary monuments. His sculptural style is typical for the late Flemish Baroque while he shows a preference for Classicism in his architectural projects. He took over the large family sculpture workshop in Antwerp. As a painter he created both history paintings for churches and still lifes. He was also employed as an architect and engineer, mainly on reconstruction projects. In his youth, he composed a number of comedies and tragedies for the Antwerp theatre.
Media related to Sint-Walburgiskerk (Antwerpen) at Wikimedia CommonsCoordinates: 51°13′19.34″N4°23′48.78″E / 51.2220389°N 4.3968833°E
