In the Grote Markt of Antwerp, the large market square and town hall of the Belgian city, you hear the same story every day. Through legend, tour guides tell the public who gathers in front of the sculpture Bravofontein —work by Belgian sculptor Jef Lambeaux— what it represents: At its origins, the city was guarded by the giant Druon Antigoon, who cut off the hands of sailors who refused to pay an entrance fee. One fine day, a young Roman soldier, named Silvius Brabo, faced the feared villain. After defeating him, he cut off his hand and threw it into the Scheldt River. That feat gave the city its name: Antwerpen, etymologically formed from the words hand pen, what does it mean ‘throw your hand’ in Dutch (the official language of Belgium, along with German and French).
If the most populated city in the Flanders region (with more than half a million inhabitants) wants and can boast of anything, it is its vast collection of public art, with 250 sculptural works – censored by the city council – spanning more than three centuries and with which they pay homage to their local heroes and their history. One way to discover Antwerp is to track down some of the central district’s most iconic sculptures and visit the original Middelheim open-air museum.
A good starting point for this tour is the Antwerp train station in the centre. The atrium of this majestic building has been dominated since 2018 by the work of Chinese artist Yan Shufen, Hand of Peacewho plays with perspective to deceive the viewer with this large chrome sculpture that sometimes resembles a hand and sometimes a dove. Before leaving the station, the traveler must know that he has just arrived in front of one of the architectural jewels that exemplifies the Flemish stylistic renewal of the 19th century.
Antwerp is also famous for another type of art, diamond cutting, or at least it has been for five centuries. Even if it is true that, for reasons of lowering costs, the polishing laboratories have moved to other countries, the Belgian city continues to be the world epicenter of the diamond business, and this is confirmed by the twenty jewelery shops that are still concentrated in the streets surrounding the station and which give their name to the Diamant metro stop.
Leaving the diamond district behind, a famous Antwerp character stands in front of the Antwerp Opera. The painter and engraver David Teniers the Younger He is remembered for his contribution to the painting movement singersin the 17th century, in which monkeys were depicted performing actions typical of people. One of his most recognized paintings is Monkey Feastexhibited at the Prado Museum in Madrid. The Teniers sculpture was created by the Belgian Joseph-Jacques Ducaju in 1867.
A few meters away, another contemporary Flemish painter, Anton van Dyck, has looked after the commercial Via Mier since 1856, thanks to the sculptor Leonard De Cuyper. This precocious artist, who began painting at just 14 years old, was Peter Paul Rubens’ most advanced disciple. He signed in his name many of the 3,000 works created by Rubens. It wasn’t identity theft, but something common at the time. The setting for much of this production is just a two-minute walk away, in Rubenhuis, the house-workshop where the baroque artist and diplomat lived and worked until the end of his life in 1640. The property can currently only be visited from the outside as it remains closed for renovations until 2030.
Although Rubens was nicknamed “the genius of Antwerp”, the greatest pride of Antwerp was not born in the city, but in Siegen (Germany), due to the exile of his Protestant parents. Of course he also has a statue in his honor, in Groenplaats square, created by Willem Geefs in 1843.
Other giants of Antwerp and two small local heroes of international fame
Back on Mier Street, another huge hand will surprise the traveler – once again, recalling the myth of Brabo and Antigoon – on a sandstone sculpture. In 1991, the City of Antwerp acquired this work by the French sculptor Henri de Miller, called Écoute – The hand. A few meters away, another colossus stands out over the city: Boerentoren or Farmers’ Tower. This 97 meter high office and residential building, considered by Belgians to be Europe’s first skyscraper, owes its name to the fact that part of the capital invested in its construction came from the Flemish Farmers’ Association. It still remains a popular symbol.
The Boerentoren is surpassed only by the bell tower of the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady, the largest in Belgium. Its construction lasted 200 years, and although two towers were initially planned, in the end there was money left for only one. In 1999, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site for its architectural value, along with other buildings in the city, such as Antwerp City Hall. Inside there are works by painters such as Otto van Veen, Jacob de Backer and Rubens, with his masterpiece the Descent from the Crossan imposing triptych more than four meters high and six meters wide.
Just as they tried to see Rubens’ works inside the cathedral, little Nello and his dog died Pastrache On Christmas Day the protagonists of the story The Flanders dog. A sad story that the neighbors themselves preferred to forget until a Japanese anime series brought it to the screen. In 2016, the Belgian sculptor Batist Vermeulen paid homage to these little local heroes with a work in front of the temple, which has become a tourist attraction and one of the most photographed sculptures in the city.
More legends, a tunnel to cross the river and the best views of the city
Antwerp likes sculptures as much as legends of giants. On the right bank of the Scheldt and guarding the entrance to the old Steen Castle, the oldest building in the city, stands the statue Lange Wapper, another folkloric flamenco character to whom many stories are attributed, a 1962 work by Albert Poels.
The river that runs through the Flemish city has been fundamental to its economic and political development. The port of Antwerp is the second most important in Europe – after that of Rotterdam – and, in order not to interrupt river traffic, the city decided to build several passages under the river that would connect both banks. The pedestrian tunnel, Sint-Annatunnel, was built in 1931 at a depth of over 30 meters and today thousands of people continue to travel through it every day, on foot or by bicycle.
Following the traces of the city’s sculptures, in Piazza Leopoldo in Waelplaats, the work of the Spanish Cristina Iglesias, Diepe Fonteinpresents itself as a metaphorical reflection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. The work, 34 meters long and 14 meters wide, presides over the square of the museum renovated since 2006. And in another of the city’s museum attractions, the MAS Museum, in the lively Elindje district, there is the sculpture Groetend Admiraal Koppel, by Guillaume Bijl, which pays homage to the port environment of Antwerp. The sculpture that crowns the building’s terrace, 60 meters high, is a perfect excuse to enjoy the best panoramic view of the city.
A place where art and nature dialogue
To complete the sculptural experience of Antwerp, it is essential to visit the Middelheim Museum, south of the city, in the neighborhood of the same name. This original outdoor space, which opened its doors in 1950, brings together more than 1,800 sculptural pieces – from 1870 to today – that dialogue with nature. An immense free green museum of 300,000 square meters which houses works by artists such as Camille Henrot, Barbara Hepworth, Germaine Richier, Henry Moore, Auguste Rodin, Alexander Calder, Juan Muñoz, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Richard Deacon and Ai Weiwei. In addition to the permanent collections, it is worth visiting the warehouse, even outdoors, where sculptures from the public art collection are stored and repaired.
