Keldermans is a family of artists, originating from Mechelen (an independent city surrounded by the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

). The members of the family were mostly architects working in the

Brabantine Gothic Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in the City of Mechele ...

style. As the most important architects of their time in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, they defined the

style, and their works can still be seen today in cities like Mechelen,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Antwerp,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, Lier,

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

and Gouda. Anthonis II and Rombout II were court architects for

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

. Laurens II, last in the line, was influenced by

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

architecture and marked the end of the Gothic period in this region.

Family tree

Name

The actual family name was Van Mansdale. Keldermans (Dutch for ''cellar man'') was a nickname given to Jan I because the family house was nicknamed '' 't Kelderken'' (the cellar). The family was not happy with the nickname and usually continued to sign documents with the name "Van Mansdale".

References

*{{cite encyclopedia , encyclopedia=Winkler Prins encyclopedia , edition=8 , year=1975 , article=Keldermans

External links

Keldermans family at Archimon
Gothic architects Brabant Belgian families