Maagdenhuismuseum, Gothic art museum in Lange Gasthuisstraat, Belgium.
The Maagdenhuismuseum is an art museum in a Gothic building in Antwerp that displays paintings and historical objects. The structure features light-colored stone walls decorated with carved ornamental details that reflect its architectural character.
Founded in 1552 as a school for poor girls thanks to a rent from merchant Jan van der Meeren, it grew into the Maagdenhuis orphanage. Its present look dates from the 1634-1635 rebuilding funded by the heirs of Gilbert van Schoonbeke, with a facade of white stone from Balegem and Gobertange. The girls moved to Albert Grisarstraat in 1882, and in 1883 the building became the seat of the Board of Civilian Almshouses.
The museum displays works by local artists and preserves objects from when the building served as an orphanage. The exhibition gives a sense of how residents lived and what mattered in their daily routines.
The museum has been closed since June 2024 for a three-year period, so visits are not possible until it reopens. The building remains the administrative headquarters of Antwerp's OCMW. Check the OCMW or city website for the reopening date before planning a trip.
In the courtyard stands a large marble relief showing both faces of a Faustina coin: the empress on one side, the puellae Faustinianae — the orphan girls she had cared for in Rome — on the other. It is partly hidden behind a statue of Mary bearing the coat of arms of Filips le Roy.
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