ANTWERP:
DIAMONDS
& RUBENS

BY ANTHONY DALTON ©

“Where does all the water go Mummy?”

The little boy stands by a fountain topped by a statue of a naked man preparing to throw a huge hand towards the nearby river.

Behind the statue, the ornate Flemish-Italian Renaissance style city hall is festooned with flags of many nations.

The lad looks up at Silvius Brabo and ponders the problem of the vanishing liquid.

Jets of water play over the copper-green image and, apparently, disappear into the ground instead of a huge bowl as normal.

“I think it’s recycled by a pump,” he is told. Holding hands mother and son step forward to inspect the phenomenon at closer quarters.

Silvius Brabo is Antwerp’s historical hero. He is the Flemish version of the Biblical David. Brabo’s Goliath was a giant named Druon Antigon who dominated the banks of the River Schelde during the Roman era.

Antigon demanded a toll of every boatman passing his fortress. Those who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, pay had a hand cut off as a harsh deterrent to future non-payers. A soldier in the Roman garrison, Silvius Brabo - so the legend tells - engaged Druon Antigon in hand to hand combat and won. To add insult to injury the young Roman cut off the giant’s right hand and threw it into the river.

` It is said that the name Antwerpen is derived from that act: the Flemish word ‘handwerpen’ means ‘throwing of the hand’.
Brabo’s fountain, on Grote Markt - the main market square - is surrounded by the stepped gabled roofs of the Guild Houses established in the 16th and 17th centuries. As in much of old Antwerp, the sidewalks are covered with tables, chairs and colored umbrellas.

Antwerp is a city with a colorful past and culture beyond measure. For close to five years, until recently, it was my home. As a resident writer and photographer, I’m free to explore at will. I can roam the ancient cobblestone lanes, a vibrant waterfront, magnificent cathedrals, and buildings crammed with art treasures, in search of Antwerp’s history.

France’s ‘Little Emperor’, Napoleon Bonaparte, was a regular visitor - although that was long before my time. He, recognizing the city’s strategic location, referred to Antwerp as ‘a pistol pointing at the heart of England’: a reference to the relative positions of the River Schelde and the River Thames, which face each other across the southern extremity of the North Sea. Napoleon built a naval dockyard on the Schelde which has expanded into one of the largest sea ports in Europe. The original dock, appropriately named ‘Bonaparte Dock’, is still in use today.

A couple of centuries before Napoleon’s sojourns in the city, Peter Paul Rubens was definitely Antwerp’s favorite son - as he is today. One of the few artists to be recognized and achieve fame and fortune in his own lifetime, Rubens painted many of his masterpieces in Antwerp.
For the first eight years of the 17th century Rubens lived and worked in Italy, presumably painting.

Returning to Antwerp in 1609, he was appointed a painter at the Court of Archduke Albert and Isabella, regents of the Spanish Netherlands which included Antwerp. later, during a stay in Paris, he painted representations of the life of Marie de Medicis and her husband Henry IV for the ‘Galerie du Luxembourg’.

Following the death of his first wife in 1626, Rubens joined the diplomatic ranks for a while. In Spain he served Philip IV before becoming an Ambassador to the Court of Charles I. He was to be rewarded for his services to the British Court by a knighthood. Sir Peter Paul Rubens eventually returned to Antwerp and married the young Helena Fourment. Ten years later, on May 30, 1640, he died aged 63 in the house he had built thirty years before.

Today Rubenshuis is owned by the City of Antwerp and is open to the public as an art museum. Ten of Rubens’ paintings adorn the rooms.

Samuel Butler, in ‘Further Extracts From Note-Books’ (1934), wrote, “you feel under the spell of a certain painter - Rubens for instance.
As you go about the streets you feel as though you might meet him at any moment.” That feeling is still in the air. Sir Peter Paul is around every corner in the old city. His image offers an enigmatic smile from banners advertising beer. His statue dominates Groenplaats in front of the Hilton Hotel.

Four of his masterpieces hang in the vast Gothic Cathedral of Our lady. In the transept is the Crucifixion on one side and Descent From The Cross on the other. Above and immediately behind the high altar is the Assumption of The Virgin. The Resurrection is displayed in an alcove by the sacristy.
Rubens played a key role in the early stages of St. Charles Borromeo’s Church.

Only a short walk away from Groenplaats, through narrow lanes lined with boutiques and restaurants, the church is built in the so-called ‘Rubens baroque’ style. The upper tower is particularly representative of the Rubens touch.
He also designed the church’s imposing facade, provided his own works of art for the interior walls, worked on relief designs and decorated the ceiling.
Sadly the latter were among thirty nine of his paintings destroyed by a fire in the church in 1718.

In St. Paul’s Church Rubens art is joined, in a collection known as the ‘Mysteries of the Rosary’, by Van Dyke, Jordaens and Teniers. The master, whose works hang in so many magnificent places of worship, is buried in nearby St. Jacob’s Church. Not surprisingly, his paintings are on view in the same building.
More than 2,500 works of Flemish and foreign masters are displayed at the Royal Gallery of Fine Arts. Rubens can be found on the top floor.
A walk the length of the Meir, Antwerp’s famous and extremely popular shopping and pedestrian street, passes an eclectic variety of architectural styles - from 16th to 20th century.

Many of the buildings, which now boast the latest shops on the ground floors, reflect Antwerp’s history from the facades of their upper storeys. And, close to the end of the walk, there’s another statue of a master painter: David Teniers, often covered in pigeons, silently watches the constant parade.

150 years before Rubens was born there was a flourishing diamond trade in Antwerp. Records show the City Magistrate took stern measures against trafficking in fake precious stones back in 1447. By the end of the 16th century diamond processors were well established in the city.

Rubens certainly took advantage of Antwerp’s rise to prominence in the diamond world. In a 1640 inventory of Rubens’ house, after he died, the diamonds he owned were valued at close to 17,000 guilders: a fortune at the time. Several portraits he painted of Helena show her wearing a large chain with sixteen pendants.

Perhaps Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama should be credited with, inadvertently, assisting Antwerp in becoming the world center for the diamond trade and industry. In the closing years of the 15th century he discovered a relatively easy sea route from Lisbon to Indian ports. As a consequence the existing sea trade route between Lisbon and Antwerp took on a new importance.

In a small area of Antwerp, adjacent to the baroque railway station, is the diamond quarter. Concentrated in a high security district of half a square mile there are over 2,000 diamond companies. One estimate puts the number of people directly employed by this industry at over 30,000. Certainly there are some 500 diamond cutters and polishers.

More than 50% of the world’s production of polished diamonds is handled in Antwerp. Some say that 75% of all diamonds, at one time or another, pass through the city. In fact, in 1788, the French Court sent their diamond studded crown jewels to Antwerp for re-polishing.

The Diamond High Council, or Hoge Raad voor Diamant - abbreviated to HRD, is the Parliament of the Belgian diamond industry. Founded in 1973 the non-profit organization acts as a mouthpiece for the four diamond bourses, trade organizations and unions.

The HRD was instrumental in arranging research on diamond grading standards and working methods, to prepare a way for a truly reliable diamond certification. Diamond certificates guarantee authenticity and the exact descriptions of a diamond’s characteristics.
These are based on the ‘four C’s’ - carat, clarity, color and cut.

A carat is the unit of weight for a diamond. One carat is one fifth of a gram. The clarity is defined by a diamond’s internal and external characteristics. Color grading is by visual comparison with a laboratory’s set of master diamonds. The cut represents the finished shape of the gem, the most popular being the round brilliant cut.

Diamonds and Rubens: Antwerp’s wealth in three words. But there’s far more. The Flemish capital has enough bars, cafes and restaurants to cater for several armies of visitors, in addition to the local citizenry. Almost every ancient street has its share of eateries. Favorite foods of every European nation, as well as Asia, Africa and the Americas, are represented. After a mouth watering meal of Delta mussels and fries, ask for moules e frites, it’s hard to go straight home.

Like many of Antwerp’s citizenry, I’ve always enjoyed sitting at an outdoor table, on uneven stones in a narrow lane centuries older than America, sampling a late night pousse cafe (liqueur) and, inevitably, the near perfect taste of a Belgian chocolate or two. My favorite, among many such convivial establishments, is t’Vagant on Pelgrimstraat. From there I can see the illuminated tower of the cathedral; trade pleasantries with others passing by; savor the aromas drifting from countless kitchens; and, if I close my eyes, I can almost see the dashing figure of Rubens - broad-brimmed feathered hat on head - strolling arm in arm with Helena through the town which he helped make famous.

If that Johnny Come Lately - Napoleon - could walk through Antwerp’s old city today he would certainly recognize Rubens’ continued importance. Nothing much has changed there since the early 1800’s. But, on the outskirts of the town he knew, where the elevated railway tracks now shade Pelikanstraat, he would surely be surprised at the rows of diamond and jewelry shops standing side by side. (One wonders how many of Josephine’s baubles were selected during her lover’s visits to Antwerp.) Each store offers a dazzling array of gems great and small. Watching young couples, tightly holding hands, making difficult choices, I’m prompted by a reminder often quoted in the diamond industry that, in Antwerp as everywhere else, ‘there is but one way to select a diamond - with love!’

FACT FILE Accommodations: Antwerp has a broad range of hotels catering to most budgets. Two examples, both within the old city, are: Antwerp Tower Hotel (Best Western) rates from $42.00 per person sharing twin or double with bath. Antwerp Hilton (Hilton Hotels) rates from $95.00 per person sharing twin or double with bath. (All rates subject to change due to currency fluctuations) For the latest information on Antwerp and Belgium see the Belgian Tourist Office, website at www.visitbelgium.com