In a museum you can find the great masters, but in this church the works of our three Baroque masters, Rubens, van Dyck and Jordaens literally hang side-by-side – and where they belong historically.

On the edge of the Port of Antwerp area and on the Scheldt quays, more and more contemporary high-rise buildings appear. They update our familiar view of the cityscape, seen from the river. However, the monumental churches still rise above the roofs of the old city and they definitely do not shrink into the shadow of these block towers. For the slow traveller, the pedestrian ‑ perhaps the pilgrim ‑ or the cyclist, they remain familiar, visible landmarks (also at night).

The interior of this church is packed with works of art, in particular paintings. The slightly larger-than-life sculptures and painted figures are meant to be viewed from a distance; then they still seem normal-size humans. There are so many of them, that you will never feel alone.

Fifteen paintings tell one continuing story: the ‘Mysteries of the Rosary’. This theme is closely related to the order of the Dominicans, or more accurately the ‘Order of Preachers’ by name. Their sermons extend the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word …”. But the image would soon follow word and in the period of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Baroque style image-production provided a maximum of expression.

This place also allows us to reflect on the Italian master of light-and-shadow effects, Caravaggio; we can find out here how our painters used this technique to convey their vision.

Once again we quote from the contemporary Schilderboek/Book of Painters by Carel van Mander, in which the author, an artist himself, describes all the painters of the Low Countries since Van Eyck. Van Mander explains here how the Italian influence left its mark on our artists:

The practitioners of our art, who have long been abroad, especially in Italy, usually bring with them a mode of work on their return, which surpasses the usual old Dutch way in beauty and excellence, or in which one observes an unusual ability and artistic skill.

More than anywhere else, this location shows the evolution of art; we see how the apprentices that Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens once were, are stepping out of the shadow of their teachers.