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Carolus Boromeus Church

Carolus Boromeus Church

At the Conscience Square, renamed after the 100th b-day celebration of the Flemish writer Conscience, you will find this magnificent Jesuit Church, an example of ecclesiastical baroque architecture.
In fact the whole square and attached buildings made part of a Jesuit building complex, housing a kind of monastery and places where the Jesuits could stay and had a collegel. Later on that college moved to the Prinsstraat and is still there in the Hof van Lierre (named after the first owner, one of the previous mayors of Antwerp) or popular named : Ten Prinsenhove (named after the royal entry of the Emperor Charles Vth in Antwerp and his staying there, against all traditions, because royalties normally stayed at the Saint Michaels monastery at the South of Antwerp, later demolished and replaced by a ship wharf by Napoleon).
It was an open construction so that people would not be with held to come closer and enter the church, the square was left open to make the barrier between religion and people smaller.
The Carolus Boromeus (its Dutch name) church was originally meant to be a place were people could learn all about Catholic religion.

If you name St. Charles Borromeo’s church, you will name Rubens as well. Influenced in Italy he helped designed this church and inside he (and his atelier) made a tremendous amount of ceiling paintings and designed many of the sculptural decorations.
However a hit by lightning on 18 July 1718 destroyed most of the church, leaving 39 paintings of Rubens by the raging fire that followed. The precious marble was totally destroyed and never there has been money enough to replace it by new marble. The two chapels got saved and if you have a look at the right chapel, called the Rubens chapel or Appelmans chapel, you can have an idea how the big central part of the church must have liked like.

That this church was so outrageous decorated was done on purpose!
It had to show its visitors a forecast the heavenly rejoicing with God!
In the way of: “If this is only his house… then how great heaven must be?!”

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Hendrik Conscience on his stone at the square

short history

It is almost unbelievable that outreagous decorated church only took six years (1615-1621) to be constructed! Go to any other church, cathedral and you will find that often it is done over a century... that the period is so short is almost a miracle itself!
The patron saint was Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the order of the Jesuits.

In 1773 however the Jesuits where chased away and every thing got confiscated. All got sold out in public, a faith that hit many churches when the French occupied Belgium and despiced all that was religous!
They had even totally plundered the Cathedral! Not one altar is original there, the only original left you will find at Saint James Church.

I thought I heard telling a story that for a short time it even served to store amunition?

Anyways in 1803 this church became a parish church again.
The new Saint Patron became Carolus Borromeus of Milan.

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Carolus Boromeus Church Antwerp

general look at the middle part

From a "secret" door at your left you can go upstairs and have this marvellous view over the balcony.
Above us is the organ, in front of us the marvellous altar with a huge painting.
This painting is removable and there is a series of paintings that can be replaced in only 15 minutes time!
Even this has its purpose!
In older days people were illiterate and could not read no write They only could learn about religion through oral or visual means.
The paintings and statues were a way of constructing them. But... , very psychological thought through!, if you have all the time the same paintings at he same place, you will after a while take no longer notice of it. If, however, you replace them, then you will see something has changed, but what? and you would start to look around more careful and you will give them your full attention.

Have a look at the ceiling now. Can you imagine it was covered with 39 paintings of Rubens (‘s atelier)?!
At the Ruben’s house, just when you enter the first room there is a (not so great) painting of how the Carolus Borromeus Church looked like before the fire.
It must have been like a marble castle!

Now the ceiling is painted white and you will see many sunflowers on it.
The sunflower is the symbol of the Jesuits. The sunflower will always point to the direction of the sun. I guess the sun is close to heaven.

A small reference I would like to make to the self-portrait of Sir Anthony Van Dyck. At his painting you will see he is not only carrying the bracelet that came with being added to the noble by the English Queen, but he is pointing at a sunflower.
This is because, unlikely to any other, he is accepted in the circle of the Jesuits who normally only accept high educated people. It is because Anthony van Dyck proofed to be such a talent that he received this priviledge.

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