The Sint-Paulus church is hard to find. It might not even be open when you do track it down. But you can try again another day.
This beautiful baroque church in Antwerp’s red light district contains a series of 15 paintings of the Mysteries of the Rosary. These scenes from the life of Jesus included works by Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens.
The church once owned a painting by Caravaggio. It was the only work by the Italian artist in the Low Countries. But Emperor Joseph II decided to remove it to Vienna, where it now hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It has been replaced by a copy.
A painting by Rubens was taken off to Paris during the French Revolution. It now hangs in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. The church has tried to get its stolen paintings returned. But without success.
One cold April night in 1968, fire swept through the Sint-Pauluskerk. Local people rushed to the church to save the precious paintings inside. They were carried to safety by a strange procession of students, prostitutes and drag queens.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
