In another instalment of our tour around "small museums", today we present this jewel in Belgium: the Rockox House Museum in Amberes.

Nicolaas Rockox (1560-1640) was a collector,  a respected citizen, art historian and personal friend to Peter Paul Rubens. In fact, the artist made a portrait of Rockox in his house, surrounded by his collection of paintings and objects.

Today, this house-museum preserves the atmosphere of the 17th century, although Rockox's original house could not be saved.

Renaissance Art at the reception of the Rockox House Museum

Center: "Judith", byJan Massijs (1509) and, on the left, "St Jerome", by Jan Sanders van Hemessen. Technique: oil on wood / Measures 103 x 81 cm 

Rockox House Museum, Amberes, Belgium

Rockox bought the house in 1603. After his death it was inherited by his nephew Adriaan van Heetvelde, demanding that, should there be no descendants, the house was to be given to the needy. In 1715, as planned, it was given to Frans van Simpelvet, and then, after various owners, in 1949 it was bought by the society that transformed it into a museum. The KBC Bank took over in 1970 and it became seat to the Nicolaas Rockox Foundation after an extensive restoration process that retrieved its glorious past.

In the great hall, 17th century art and, on the left, a small cabinet painted with scenes of Ovid's metamorphosis.

Rockox House Museum, Amberes, Belgium

Religious paintings of the 15th century

Amberes, Belgium

Rockox admired the works of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) but also acquired paintings by other Flemish artists, such as Pieter Aertsen (Netherlands, 1508-1575), Pieter II Bruegel (1564-1638), Jan Wildens (Belgium, 1586-1653) and  Antoon van Dyck (Belgium, 1599-1641).

The extremely careful curating process has achieved the goal of presenting the artworks in an almost domestic space, introducing visitors to the cultural atmosphere of the 17th Century and the life of a single man that lived in those days... 

Keep reading... "Small Museums", by Orhan Pamuk, at the The New York Times Style Magazine, March 23rd, 2014, p. 112-123.