Kolveniershof

The guild was the youngest of six crossbowmen fraternities in Antwerp, all headquartered in the Gildekamersstraat behind the Town Hall. Over the years, the Guild of Crossbowmen grew more and more into a social club for the higher echelons. With their new building as a training ground and banquet hall. Rubens was right at home here. Official meetings were held in the Guild house on the Gildekamerstraat, which is where the archives were also kept.  

Rubens joined the Guild of Crossbowmen in the year he purchased his house and land, which was actually adjacent to the site of the guild. It would prove to be a fruitful association. Two years later, he painted The Descent from the Cross for the altar of the Guild of Crossbowmen in Antwerp Cathedral. Besides 2,400 guilders, his work also earned him honorary membership. His friend, mayor and head of the guild Nicolaas Rockox endorsed this title with a silver badge of honour.  

The Kolveniershof was the meeting point for all the city's important artists and intellectuals. It was the perfect stepping stone for Rubens to rise even higher into Antwerp's social and cultural life. And make his mark on the community in the process.   

Apart from shooting practice with their crossbows - the firearms to which the guild members owed their name - the new Kolveniershof was also a place for arts and culture. The lavishly furnished room was used for receptions and banquets.   

For a period in the 18th century, it was Antwerp's most important auction room for the sale of paintings. Until the fire on 11 November 1737. The cause of the blaze? A "wonderful banquet" to celebrate the birthday of the English King George II. Fortunately, His Royal Highness was not in attendance, as the damage from the incident was extensive. The city council entrusted the restoration to the famous architect Jan Pieter van Baurscheit, who years later also designed the Palace in Meir. He gave the broad south façade a new gable crowning, with a pediment, a circular opening and consoles.  

The French occupation marked the end of shooters' fraternities and therefore also the Guild of Crossbowmen. The building was sold as a national property in 1798 and, after several renovations, fell into oblivion. Only after an investigation in the 1940s did it reappear on the radar as the ideal location for the Rubenianum, an international centre of expertise on the art of Rubens and his contemporaries.   

Although this demanded another comprehensive restoration. In the meantime, the Royal Ballet School of Jeanne Brabants and Studio Herman Teirlinck used the Kolveniershof as a rehearsal space. Alteration works started 4 years after it was recognised as a protected monument in 1971. These works revealed which parts dated from before the fire and what was only added afterwards.  

Besides the restoration of the historic building, architect Jos Gabriëls also drew up the plans for a new section. After 1981, this housed the Rubenianum's collections, offices and reading room. The Kolveniershof was now once again a cultural and artistic Mecca for international researchers. What is more, the people of Antwerp came here for the Afternoon concerts for more than 20 years.  

With the library's move to Hopland 13, a new breath of fresh air is blowing through the Kolveniershof. It will become a fully-fledged part of the Rubenshuis, where visitors will be able to go for workshops, lectures and other events from 2030 at the earliest.