The portrait of my friend Gevartius was my last task today; it's not ready yet. I stopped because it was getting too dark. As I do practically every day now, I made a short walk at twilight and I went outside the city, following the ramparts for a while. There's a lot of foliage there, different kinds of waterbirds can be seen on the ditches, it's a quiet surrounding.

And it's not so far away from my home. I simply follow the "vaart", the canal near which we live, till it crosses the fortifications. Nearby is the gorgeous Saint George's Gate, also called the Emperor's Gate, after Charles V of Hapsburg. Through it and through four other gates one leaves or enters Antwerp. This one is the most important of all five, on the road to Brussels, where Isabella's palace and the Court are.

I'm very interested in modern, baroque architecture and I love to make drawings of it, but I must say that this stronghold of ours, though almost a century old, is a masterpiece of renaissance architecture, conceived and built by most capable italian military engineers and architects.

It was dark when I reached home for supper.

Note:

Rubens returned to Antwerp in 1608 after an eight years stay in Italy. The following year he married Isabella Brant and they bought themselves a house near the "Vaart" at the "Wapper" in Antwerp. Later his studios were built next to their house. From 1615 on he could work in his new workshop. The canal in front of his house brought drinkable water into Antwerp from a river in the neighbourhood. The Antwerp stronghold, the so called Spanish ramparts, were built around 1545, emperor Charles V reigning over the Netherlands.

(back to the diary page 2)

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page