St. Paul's Church () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located at the Veemarkt in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium. Its exterior is mainly

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

with a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

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 painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

and

Jacob Jordaens Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678Jacques Jordaens
in the Netherlands Institute for Ar ...

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 Southern Netherlands, Flemish sculptor. He is regarded as the most important representative of the ...

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 people, Flemish s ...

, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder,

Jan Claudius de Cock Jan Claudius de Cock (City of Brussels, Brussels, baptized on 2 June 1667 – Antwerp, 1735)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 ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

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

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

and consecrated in 1276 by

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus ( 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great, Albert of Swabia, Albert von Bollstadt, or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop, considered one of the great ...

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

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

As the church had become exposed to flooding as a result of a change in course of the Scheldt river, the Dominican

Prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

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, a co-designer of the

Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. It was construct ...

. 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 warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

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 Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

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 ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s and

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

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 fo ...

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 Younger or 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 The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

, a Dutch garrison bombarded Antwerp. The church was damaged and all the 17th century stained glass windows, made after designs by

Abraham van Diepenbeeck Abraham van Diepenbeeck (9 May 1596 (baptised) – between May and September 1675) was a Dutch painter, draftsman, glass painter, print maker and tapestry designer who worked most of his active career in Antwerp.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 Mendicant orders are primarily certain Catholic Church, Catholic religious orders that have vowed for their male members a lifestyle of vow of poverty, poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preacher, preaching, Evangelis ...

. For the interior walls brick was used, while the outer vestments and structural components are in Ledian

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. 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 Jan Claudius de Cock (City of Brussels, Brussels, baptized on 2 June 1667 – Antwerp, 1735)Jan Claudius de Cock< ...

of 1734 depicting Our Lady of the Rosary giving the rosary to

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic, (; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilians, Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he a ...

and

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

, 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

Jacob Jordaens Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678Jacques Jordaens
in the Netherlands Institute for Ar ...

Cornelis de Vos Cornelis de Vos (1584 - 9 May 1651) was a Flemish painter, Drawing, draughtsman and art dealer. He was one of the leading portrait painters in Antwerp and is best known for his sensitive portraits, in particular of children and families. He w ...

Gaspar de Crayer Gaspar de Crayer or Jasper de CrayerName variations: Caspar de Crayer and Gaspard de Crayer (18 November 1584 – 27 January 1669) was a Flemish painter known for his many Counter-Reformation altarpieces and portraits. He was a court painter ...

Frans Francken II Frans Francken the Younger (1581, Antwerp – 6 May 1642, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter and the best-known and most prolific member of the large Francken family of artists.

, Abraham van Diepenbeeck,

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

, 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, Napol ...

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 very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

and

cherub A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...

s 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 Erasmus Quellinus the Younger or Erasmus Quellinus II (November 19, 1607 – November 11, 1678) was a Flemish painter, engraver, draughtsman and tapestry designer who worked in various genres including history painting, history, portrait, allego ...

The stolen Caravaggio

In 1623, the painting '' Madonna of the Rosary'' by

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

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 – 17 July 1632) was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper support. His favourite ...

and

Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; 1568 – 13 January 1625) was a Flemish painting, Flemish painter and Draughtsmanship, draughtsman. He was the younger son of the eminent Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish ...

, the painting was donated as

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

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 (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, 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, repl ...

. It can now be admired in the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. St. Paul's Church replaced the original a few years later with a copy made by

Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont Andreas Bernardus de Quertenmont (1 February 1750, in Antwerp – 3 June 1835, in Antwerp) was a Southern Netherlands, Flemish painter, copyist, engraver and etching, etch artist. He was also an art educator and administrator as he held positions ...

, a director of the

Antwerp Academy The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp () 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, painter to the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Don Juan of ...

. 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 Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

. 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,

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 furniture which he made for the principal churches in Flanders.Willem Kerricx and his son

Willem Ignatius Kerricx Willem Ignatius Kerricx (Antwerp, baptized on 22 April 1682 – Antwerp, 4 January 1745) was a Flemish people, 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 Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century Baroque church buildings in Belgium