Het Steen archive

The loan of archival documents from Rubens's country house contains 155 paper and parchment archive documents about Het Steen, a manor house in Elewijt.

In 1635, Rubens and his wife Helena Fourment bought a country house called Het Steen near Elewijt. Documents from this period give us an insight into the renovation of the manor house, show how the couple continued to expand the estate and mention Helena's role as the landscape manager. The collection, which belongs to the Government of Flanders, is now on permanent loan to the Rubenshuis. After conservation treatment, all documents were carefully packed in durable storage boxes. 

The 155 papers and parchment archival documents are all very old, with the oldest dating from 1602 and the most recent document from 1791. Three iconographic documents from the 19th and 20th centuries complete the historical picture. 

Besides Rubens and Helena and her new husband, the collection also reveals secrets about two subsequent owners: Maria Christina of Egmont – daughter of the famous Count of Egmont – and Laurent-Benoît Dewez, the court architect of Charles of Lorraine.