Rubenshuis

The Rubenshuis ("Rubens House") is the former home and studio of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) in Antwerp. It is now a museum. Rubens spent most of his lifetime in this palace. After his death, his wife Helena Fourment rented the building to William Cavendish and his wife. After the Cavendishes left in 1660, the house was sold. The city bought the house in 1937, and after an extensive restoration the Rubenshuis was opened to the public in 1946. Dozens of paintings and artworks by Rubens and his contemporaries were installed in the rooms, as well as period furniture. Paintings include his early Adam and Eve (c. 1600) and a self portrait made when he was about fifty. The Rubenianum, a centre dedicated to the study of Rubens, is in a building at the rear of the garden.