, image = Sintpaulus groen.jpg , image_size = 330px , alt = , caption = St. Paul's Church , map_type = , map_size = , map_caption = , location = Antwerp, Antwerp (province),

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, coordinates = , latitude = , longitude = , religious_affiliation =

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, district =

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, consecration_year = 1571 , status = , functional_status = , heritage_designation = , leadership = , website = , architecture = , architect = , architecture_type = , architecture_style =

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, Baroque , general_contractor = , facade_direction = , groundbreaking = , year_completed = , construction_cost = , specifications = , capacity = , length = , width = , width_nave = , height_max = , dome_quantity = , dome_height_outer = , dome_height_inner = , dome_dia_outer = , dome_dia_inner = , spire_quantity = , spire_height = , materials = St. Paul's Church ( nl, Sint-Pauluskerk) is a

church located at the Veemarkt in Antwerp, Belgium. Its exterior is mainly

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 Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

, 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 Artus Quellinus the Elder, Artus Quellinus I or Artus (Arnoldus) Quellijn (20 or 30 August 1609, Antwerp – 23 August 1668, Antwerp) was a Flemish sculptor. He is regarded as the most important representative of the Baroque in sculpture ...

Pieter Verbrugghen I Pieter Verbrugghen I (alternative spellings: ''Pieter Verbruggen I'', ''Peter van der Brugghen I'', ''Pieter van der Brugghen I'', ''Peter Verbrugghen I'', ''Peeter Verbrugghen I'') (1615, Antwerp – 1686, Antwerp) was a Flemish sculptor from the ...

, 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.Rudi Mannaerts, ''Saint Paul's, the Antwerp Dominican church, a revelation''
Toerismepastoraal Antwerpen

History

St. Paul's Church is located in the old city center of Antwerp, just a few steps from the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

river, in a district where formerly sailors used to live. A small church was built here by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

and consecrated in 1276 by

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...

. The church is named after the patron saint of the Dominicans,

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

As the church had become exposed to flooding as a result of a change in course of the Scheldt river, the Dominican Prior A. van Leent decided to build a new church on a larger and higher-lying piece of land next to the existing church. The construction designs were probably made by

Domien de Waghemakere Domien de Waghemakere, or Dominikus (ca. 1460 – 1542), was a Flemish architect and an important exponent of Brabantine Gothic. Biography He began his career in 1494, alongside his father, in the construction of the church of Lier, the . Betwee ...

, a co-designer of the Antwerp Cathedral. After his death in 1542 Rombout de Dryvere is known to have continued as the architect and master builder. The church was taken into partial use in 1548 and the following year the old church was demolished. The new church was completed and dedicated in 1571. In the same year, the Our Lady of the Rosary fraternity was founded in the church to celebrate the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

in which the Spanish fleet defeated the Turks. Work on the new monastery probably also started around this time.De Inventaris van het Bouwkundig Erfgoed, Sint-Pauluskerk en dominicanenklooster
(ID: 4648) Sint-Pauluskerk Antwerpen 21 08 2010 27

When the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s came to power in Antwerp in 1578, the Dominicans were expelled, the church and monastery were cleared and the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the church was transformed into a Calvinist oratory. The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

s and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

were partially demolished and part of the monastery was used as a cannon foundry of the army. When in 1584 Farnese laid siege to Antwerp to reclaim it for the Spanish throne, he had a bridge built over the Scheldt to block supply to the city. The defenders of the city tried to send fire ships to ignite the bridge. They used materials from the transepts and choir of St. Paul's Church as ballast in these ships. After the

fall of Antwerp The Fall of Antwerp on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the focal point of the Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt, but was force ...

in 1585, the Dominican Fathers returned and began to rebuild and refurbish the church and the monastery. The initial phase of the rebuilding of the monastery was undertaken between 1605 and 1616 and reconstruction was completed in 1662. In 1618 the first stone was laid of a new and enlarged choir and transept. In 1639 the new choir was consecrated by the Bishop of Antwerp. During the following decades, the interior of the church was fitted out with Baroque furniture and decoration. The Antwerp sculptor

and his workshop made the oak confessionals between 1658 and 1660. The same artist made the oak organ case in the church in 1654 and together with his son

Pieter Verbrugghen II Pieter Verbrugghen the Youngeror Pieter Verbrugghen II(1648, Antwerp - after 1691, Antwerp) was a Flemish sculptor, draughtsman, etcher and stone merchant.

he executed the designs for the high altar in 1670.Iris Kockelbergh. "Verbrugghen."
Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 1 March 2014 The high altar was dedicated in 1670 by Mgr. Capello of Antwerp. In 1679 a major fire destroyed part of the vaults of the nave and the upper part of the western facade. The damage was repaired in 1680-81 and at the same time the top of the tower was finished in a Baroque style after a design by

Nicolaes Millich Nicolaes Millich or Nicholas Millich (1629-c. 1699) was a Flemish sculptor, architect and designer of armor and ephemeral objects. During the Ten Days' Campaign undertaken by the Dutch in 1830 after the Belgian Revolution, a Dutch garrison bombarded Antwerp. The church was damaged and all the 17th century stained glass windows, made after designs by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, were destroyed. In 1833 the interior of the church was changed: the rood screen dating from 1654, which had been executed by Pieter Verbruggen II and his workshop was dismantled to allow an unobstructed view through the nave to the choir. A new rood screen had previously been built on the western side of the nave. In April 1968 a fire destroyed the entire roof of the church, damaged the vaults and the interior, completely burned down the top of the Baroque tower and reduced three-quarters of the monastery to ruins. The restoration works have taken a long time to complete.

The exterior

The exterior is mainly executed 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 and is characterized by the austere architecture with little exterior decoration, which is common in churches of mendicant orders. For the interior walls brick was used, while the outer vestments and structural components are in Ledian

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. The tower was rebuilt in the late 17th century with a Baroque top. The baroque portal on the angled corner of Veemarkt and Zwartzustersstraat dates from 1734. In the arch above the gate is a tympanum sculpture by Jan Claudius de Cock of 1734 depicting Our Lady of the Rosary giving the rosary to Saint Dominic and

Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...

, the reformer of the Dominican Order.

The interior

The columns in St. Paul's Church are cylindrical and are topped by a capital with cabbage leaf motif. The interior decoration is a good example of the Flemish Baroque style in painting as well as church furniture. Among the many works of art in the church are works by major artists such as the Antwerp painters

, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Cornelis de Vos, Gaspar de Crayer,

Frans Francken II Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is '' Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplo ...

, Abraham van Diepenbeeck,

Theodoor Boeyermans Theodoor Boeyermans, Theodor Boeyermans or Theodor Boeijermans (10 November 1620 – January 1678) was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp who painted Baroque history paintings and group portraits informed by the tradition of Peter Paul Rubens a ...

, Artus de Bruyn, Arnout Vinckenborch and Matthys Voet.

Main altar

Pieter Verbrugghen I and his son Pieter Verbrugghen II created a Baroque marble main altar that was constructed around Rubens' painting ''The vision of St. Dominic''. The Dominicans ordered in 1670 a new painting on the ''Martyrdom of St. Paul'' from Theodoor Boeyermans. This painting and Rubens' painting were installed in the new main altar and could be shown alternately through a rotating mechanism with hinges. Both paintings were robbed by the French occupiers in 1794 and sent to Paris. In 1811 Napoleon donated the paintings to two regional museums: Rubens' ''St. Dominic'' to the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lyon, and Boeyermans’ ''St. Paul'' to that of Aix-en-Provence. Despite the agreements of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

of 1815 neither altarpiece was ever returned by France on the pretext that Napoleon had given them to regional museums. The painting ''The Descent from the Cross'' completed by Cornelis Cels in 1807 is now placed in the space occupied by the stolen altarpieces. Saint Paul’s, the Antwerp Dominican church, a revelation. No convent church without a choir
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Sculpture

St. Paul's Church holds the most impressive array of Baroque confessionals in Belgium. The 10 confessionals, executed around 1659 by Pieter Verbrugghen I with the assistance of his workshop and other sculptors, are divided in groups of five on the side of both aisles. Each confessional is flanked by two statues on either side. The confessionals are not conceived as separate pieces of furniture but are connected by a wooden paneling. The entire wall of each aisle is thus turned into a single united piece of furniture, the iconography of which strives to achieve the same unity and synthesis as the whole structure.Helena Bussers, ''De baroksculptuur en het barok''
at Openbaar Kunstbezit Vlaanderen Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Disputa_van_het_Heilige_Sacrament

Peter_Paul_Rubens_-_Disputa_van_het_Heilige_Sacrament

The sculptors

, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder and Andries Colyns de Nole created 8 life-size white stone sculptures of Dominican saints between the years 1631 and 1700 which are placed between the windows of the choir. On the south side is the ''Chapel of the Holy Sacrament and of the Sweet Name Jezus'' which has an altar sculpted by Pieter Verbrugghen I and an altar piece by Rubens on ''The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament''. This chapel also holds a Baroque confessional by Willem Kerricx that was originally placed on the north side of the main entrance. Sint-Pauluskerk Antwerpen 21 08 2010 36

On the north side is the ''Maria Chapel'' with a Baroque altar which was commenced by Huibrecht van den Eynde, continued by his pupil Sebastiaen de Neve and completed by Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder in 1728. A typical rubensian motif are the dozens of miniature

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

and cherubs on the ascending branches of vegetal, Marian symbols on the twisted marble columns. The painting ''Adoration of the shepherds'' by Rubens forms the altar piece. The Maria Chapel also contains a white marble sculpture of ''Our Lady of Sorrows'' by Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder. The church holds elaborate tomb monuments attributed to Johannes van Mildert, Pieter Verbrugghen II and Andries Colyns de Nole. The 17th century organ is regarded as one of the most important organs of Belgium. The monumental organ case was sculpted by Pieter Verbrugghen I after a design by Erasmus Quellinus II.

The stolen Caravaggio

In 1623, the painting '' Madonna of the Rosary'' by Caravaggio arrived in Antwerp probably via the Dutch market. On the initiative of some artists, among whom Peter Paul Rubens,

Hendrick van Balen Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I (c. 1573–1575 in Antwerp – 17 July 1632 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper ...

and

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. He was the son of the eminent Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A close friend and frequent collabora ...

, the painting was donated as altarpiece to St. Paul's Church. Rubens organized the leading Antwerp painters to make a series of 15 paintings on the theme of the "Mystery of the Rosary Cycle" to flank the Caravaggio painting. In 1786,

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, after ordering the closing of all 'useless' monastic orders, claimed the painting of Caravaggio for his

art collection A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, ...

. It can now be admired in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. St. Paul's Church replaced the original a few years later with a copy made by Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont, a director of the

Antwerp Academy The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen) is an art academy located in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by David Teniers the Younger ...

. Caravaggio 's work, which was a princely gift of Antwerp's leading artists and an expression of their deep religious devotion had become the object of looting by the Austrian rulers.Caravaggio en de St.Paulus

The Calvary

On the outside of the church is a group of statues referred to as the Calvary. It was created on the location of an ancient Dominican cemetery by the brothers van Ketwigh who were Dominican friars. Its design dates from 1697. In 1734 construction of the Calvary was completed but further statues were added up to 1747. It is built as a courtyard and leans on one side against the south aisle of the church and the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament. The structure includes 63 life-size statues and nine reliefs executed in a popular and theatrical style. Most statues are of white stone with some made of wood. Some statues are dated or signed. The principal sculptors were

Michiel van der Voort the Elder Michiel van der Voort the Elder, Michiel van der Voort (I) or Michiel Vervoort the Elder, nickname Welgemaeckt (Antwerp, 3 January 1667 – Antwerp, buried on 8 December 1737) was a Flemish sculptor and draftsman, who is best known for the Baroq ...

Alexander van Papenhoven Alexander van Papenhoven (Antwerp, 14 July 1669 – Antwerp, 15 February 1759) was a Flemish sculptor, architect and art educator, who is best known for the church furniture which he made for the principal churches in Flanders.

and Jan Claudius de Cock with some statues by the hand of Willem Kerricx and his son

Willem Ignatius Kerricx Willem Ignatius Kerricx (Antwerp, baptized on 22 April 1682 - Antwerp, 4 January 1745) was a Flemish sculptor, painter, draftsman, architect, engineer, playwright and author active in Antwerp in the first half of the 18th century.< ...

, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder and anonymous collaborators. The statues are arranged into four groups: the angel path, which ascends to the Holy Sepulchre, the garden of the prophets on the left, the garden of the evangelists on the right and the Calvary itself, which consists of an elevated artificial rock, divided into three terraces, on which statues are placed with Christ on the cross at the top.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:paul Pau Pau Pau Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century