Rockox House

One of the finest of small museums anywhere is the House of Nicholaas Rockox, a 17th century Antwerp patrician and collector. These days it is enhanced by many works from the nearby Royal Museum of Fine Arts, which is being renovated. We spent most of the day here before moving on to the cathedral. Again, the emphasis is local and 14th-17th centuries, which suited us fine. The paintings I'm not posting are nearly as good or famous as the one's I am posting.

Jean Fouquet's mid-15th century Madonna with cherubim
and seraphim; the model was said to be Agnes Sorel,
Charles VII's mistress; condemned as blasphemous by
many, the Surrealists made the "fashion doll" one of their
icons

Antonella da Messina's Calvary; an Italian
painter in Flanders; done between 1457-1460

Rogier van der Weyden's Portrait of 
Philippe de Croy

Festival of the Archers, by the Master of
Frankfurt; he and his wife are in the painting,
lower right, standing above the fence,
recognizable from

The Painter and His Wife; so why did the
Master of Frankfurt paint the huge fly on his
wife's head?

Peter the Younger Brueghel's copy of the Elder's famous
Proverbs, which we saw--studied--in Berlin

Detail worth pondering...

Jan Massijs' Judith

Marinus van Reymerswale The Tax Collector;
nobody likes tax collectors; they always get
funny hats

Much going on in Antoine Steenwinkel's
Vanitas Portrait of the Painter

Joos van Cleve's Jesus and John (that's what
the note said)

Rubens' Venus Frigida, illustrating Terence's line that
without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus would freeze; hunger
and thirst put a chill on love...

Franz Francken's An Art Gallery; I like the gallery shots,
but none of the biggies ever painted them

The Five Senses, by Gonzales Coques (his self-portrait is
the one behind the vase, the sense of taste)

Rubens' Prodigal Son; he never sold this one, kept it for
himself until he died

One wall of one room in this museum; in the center is
Rubens' Memorial Triptych for Nicholas Rockox; other
masterworks all over the place...