Organisation  

The Rubenshuis is more than just a museum. Because Rubens was more than just a painter. That is why we're working hard to preserve his world. In the commercial heart of modern-day Antwerp and at the same time on the very site of Rubens's past. That contrast is what provides the colour behind our ambitions.  

The Rubenshuis is the beating heart of Rubens' dynamic universe. His art can be admired in museums all over the world, but the only place where you can get a sense of what Rubens was like as a person is here. The place where he worked, but also lived. And the ups and downs he experienced in life. Just like each one of us today. The fact that we can recognise aspects of his life in our own is what connects us to his multi-faceted personality and serves as a mirror through which we can view our own lives. The Rubenshuis automatically moves each of its visitors to seek the contrasts in themselves and in others: pride and intimacy, sensuality and sobriety, dynamism and stillness, playfulness and drama and unity and diversity. The first thing you do is meet Rubens, but after that, you get under his skin and before the end, you will be able to recognise a bit of Rubens in yourself.  

Rubens himself was learned and voracious in equal measure. Linking his head to his heart was effortless for him and he had an unlimited passion for life. This caused some fireworks both in his paintings and beyond. This was precisely the effect that the Rubenshuis wants to create in the eyes of its visitors. This is the place where Rubens and the members of his household connect with the present day and with us, their visitors in the 21st century, causing those same fireworks to erupt in our heads and in our hearts too. By experiencing the ultimate confrontation between Rubens the artist and Rubens the man of flesh and blood, we get to know him in a completely different light. As well as admiring Rubens people have done for centuries, there is now also scope to acknowledge and understand him. Not only while visiting this magical place, but at each point in the future when visitors come across him.   

We are generous and careful (in our head), welcoming and intimate (in our arms and our body) and passionate and reliable (in our heart).