Traditional guided tour of the Snijders&Rockox House

Your guide will reveal the secrets of the residents and their contemporaries through investigating latter-day objects and works of art. Where better to admire these items than in the Snijders&Rockox House, the homes of these famous patricians. The two historic houses, which today serve as a museum, still amaze with their architectural aura and Renaissance splendour. All of this grandeur is located in the Keizerstraat, once Antwerp’s residential area. Together with the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwehuis across the street and the Emperor’s Chapel a little further on, they are a reminder of the fascinating 17th century.

The rooms in Nicolaas Rockox’s house have been carefully restored, based on the inventory of Rockox’s estate in 1640. We will pass by the reception room, where we will tell you all about the inhabitants’ network, which was of the utmost importance at that time. Rockox’s art room is still a shrine that showcases the best we have to offer, while, at the same time, emphasising the crafts and talents of our Antwerp citizens, from furniture, paintings and sculptures to silversmith works, which are renowned far and wide in Europe. In the former laundry room of the house, we put the emphasis on play and relaxation among the lower classes and the patricians, which was not always an obvious thing in those days. Then we end up in the kitchen, where everyday objects tell the story of a typical kitchen in a patrician house. Finally, there is a beautiful music room containing masterpieces from the Museum Butchers’ Hall. In the middle of the house, the small early 17th-century city garden is a hidden gem worth discovering.

In Frans Snijders’ house, the emphasis is put on the creativity of this amazing painter, his contemporaries and the next generation of painters, who conjured up breathtaking still lifes, animal pieces and hunting scenes on their canvases. And, of course, we will talk about the importance of neighbours in those days. Two hours is not actually long enough, but a fascinating guide will give you the whole story in an original way.

Practical information:

• This tour is suitable for young and old
• Maximum 20 persons per group
• Duration: 90 minutes