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186 Route 73. ANTWERP. Royal Museum:
in Antwerp. On the S. the Rue des Tanneurs is adjoined by the
Longue Rue de Hopital (Lange Gasthuis-Straat), No. 29 in which
is the former Girls’ Orphanage, built in 1552 and now occupied by
the administration of the publiccharities. Above the door is a taste-
ful relief representing a school of the 16th century.
The modern Gothic Church of St. George (Pl. ©, 4, 5; adm. at
noon and towards evening on application to the sacristan, fee 1/y fr. ),
erected in 1848-53 from designs by L. Suys the Younger, contains
mural paintings of scenes from the life of Christ by Guffens and
Swerts, executed in 1859-68.
To the left, at the beginning of the Rue Léopold, is the Theatre
Royal (Pl. C, 4; p. 167), originally built in 1834 and much altered
in 1863. — Farther on, to the left, at the corner of the Rue d’Arem-
berg, is the house of the Cercle Artistiywe, Littéraire, et Scientifique
(Flem.Kunst- Verbond); to the right, the Botanic Garden (Kruidtuin
or Jardin Botanique; Pl. C, 4), which contains a Botanical Museum
(adm. for scientific visitors 5-7 and 9-10 p.m.), a palm-house, and
a statue of P. Coudenberg, an Antwerp botanist of the 16th cent.,
by De Cuyper.
Behind the National Bank is the small Place Léopold(Pl. C, 4,5),
embellished with an Equestrian Statue of Leopold I., in bronze,
designed by J. Geefs (1868).
d. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts.
The *Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts (Koninglyk Museum van
Schoone Kunsten; Pl. B, 5) was erected in 1879-90 by J. J. Win-
ders and Fr. van Dyck. The main entrance, in the W. facade, is
by a portico supported by four colossal Corinthian columns and
flanked on the upper story by loggie. The Attic story is embellished
with allegorical figures and medallions by Dupuis, De Pleyn, Du-
eaju, and Fabri. The horizontal line of the upper cornice is inter-
rupted at the corners by pylon-shaped pedestals supporting two
horse chariots by Vineotte. — On the rear of the building is a bronze
group, by L. Mignon, intended to honour the painter Sir A. Van
Dyck. In the grounds in front of the W. facade of the museum are
some bronze sculptures: “Stevedore (‘Le Débardeur’), by C. Meunier ;
Danaides, by Jacques Marin; The kiss, by L. Mascré; Boy at a
well, by Alf. van Beurden; Vulture fighting with a jaguar, by Jos.
Dupon.
On the groundfloor, in the left wing, are the sculptures, in the
tight wing, the Rubens and Van Dyck Collections; on the upper
floor is the picture gallery. Adm., sce p. 168; no charge for um-
brellas, ete. Director, M. Pol de Mont (p. xvii). There are two cata-
logues (published also in French, German, and English): J. Old
Masters (1905), 2 fr. ; II. Modern Artists (1905), 1 fr. Album with
200 reproductions from the old masters, 3 fr. |
