By the time we got on our way, it was pouring in Antwerp. We were surprised there was no slow. We went out into the rain for a short time, got really wet, and tried to take shelter for awhile under a restaurant awning. The owner took exception to that, however, and started to retract the awning, so we went back to the station to take a cab to the Cathedral of Our Lady. I did get a good picture of Nancy with the frites sign at the offending restaurant, however.
The cathedral is a rather standard Gothic cathedral, except for the several Peter Paul Rubens paintings. Antwerp was his hometown, so there are Rubens everywhere. ...and what an odd thing that is to say. My previous association with Rubens has been either in the pages of books, or one or two in a museum. Antwerp is full of them. He has such an unmistakeable style, and it was a pleasure to see so many just hanging on the walls of a cathedral that is in use, far from the controlled environment of a museum.
This piece is "Raising the Cross", and my photo doesn't do it justice. There's great movement, helped along by the classic Rubens musculature. The colors are vibrant, and the skin tones are beautiful. The face of the old lady in the left panel is particularly wonderful, full of angles and age. Rubens was an admirer of Caravaggio, and the old lady's face reminds me of his work.
Otherwise, the cathedral is the usual hodgepodge of marble statuary, carved wooden figures, confessionals and choir, and the like. The wood carving is beautiful, but in this case, at least for me, "ya seen one cathedral, ya seen 'em all." We spent about an hour there and moved on to St Paul's Church, which Nancy C had read about somewhere. It turned out to be a treasure.
And oops, I hadn't changed the time in my camera, so no, we were not there at 5:11 in the morning, Belgian time!
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