Antwerp - Rubens' House

(Local Name: Rubenshuis) Immediately beyond the old Koninklijke Paleis the open Wappersstraat turns south off the Meir. Peter Paul Rubens acquired No. 9 in 1610 - a year after his marriage to Isabella Brant - living there until his death in 1640. He arranged the house to his own taste and requirements, making his home to the left of the entrance and turning the right wing into his studio. The two parts are joined by an elaborate and much admired portico. In the 18th C. the house was owned for a time by an English aristocrat. Following the French Revolution it was used as a prison, thereafter falling more and more into disrepair.

Rubenshuis (Rubens' house) finally came into the possession of the City of Antwerp in 1937 and, between 1939 and 1946, was meticulously restored with the aid of old documents and drawings.