Antwerp No. 1 / Amberes / Antwerpen / Anvers

[NB: we have no information on the font(s) of the medieval church(es) here].
A communication from Pol Herman to BSI (e-mail of 26 August 2022) informs: "Reading the plan for the future conservation of the Antwerp cathedral, I read that the garden of deanery (adjacent to the cathedral) was modified in the second halve of the 19th century to accommodate for a statue and grotto in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes. Next to the statue, a late Romanesque font was installed. He cites his source as "Beheersplan Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal Antwerpen, Steenmeijer Architecten BVBA, 2017", and adds: "I found one picture of the garden showing the font. I have no further information about this font yet." [cf. infra] The full text of the "Beheetsplan" is publicly available [https://www.agvespa.be/sites/default/files/download-item/beheersplan_kathedraal_hs_1_-_7.pdf] [accessed 17 February 2023]; the reference to the font is on p. 64, and the photograph of the font in its new context outside the deanery is Afb.11, on page 20 of the plan. The said photograph shows the object in the background, next and to the left of the statue of St. Mary: a bucket-shaped stone base with decorated sides and some protrusions at the upper rim; it is raised on a plain cylindrical column that appears modern. We have no confirmation that this object was the original font of the cathedral [cf. infra] [NB: we have no other information on the original baptismal font of the medieval church here] The present font in the nave appears modern; it consists of a hemispherical basin of a round pedestal base it appears to be made of black(?) marble or a shiny limestone.]
A further communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 2 May 2024) adds: "Today I received some pictures of this object. It is not a Romanesque baptismal font, as it is called in the conservation guidelines of the cathedral. I think it is a 15/16th century Mosan mortar, with 4 handles. It was broken, and it was repaired rather clumsily by enwrapping the basin in a pottery-style shroud."
A further communication to BSI from Pol Herman (e-mail of 3 March 2026) informs about the holy-water stoup: "Antwerp Cathedral

Claire Baisier , DE DOCUMENTAIRE WAARDE VAN DE KERKINTERIEURS VAN DE ANTWERPSE SCHOOL IN DE SPAANSE TIJD (1585-1713)

Page 54

Painting by Peeter II Neeffs, 1654

Two identical paintings by Peeter II Neeffs, both signed and dated 1654, depict the cathedral in a somewhat unusual way. The artist is seated in the north transept, thus looking towards the crossing, the south transept, and a section of the nave to the side. A Mass is being celebrated at the altar of St. Christopher, held by the arquebusiers in the south transept, in the presence of a large congregation. We also see the beginnings of the crossing dome in Flamboyant Gothic style, the organ above the entrance to the south ambulatory, several statues of the apostles in the nave, and the first two arches of the closure of the Venerable Chapel. At the dividing line between the nave and the crossing stands a holy water font, behind which stands a wooden, chest-shaped kneeler. The font consists of a baluster-shaped base in black bluestone and a basin in white marble. In the foreground, a stonemason chisels an inscription on one of the tombstones, watched by a wealthy citizen, possibly a relative of the deceased. Two Easterners wearing turbans attentively follow the explanation of a young man pointing to the south portal. Peeter II Neeffs, Interior of the Cathedral of Our Lady from the Transept to the South, 1654, oil on panel, 45 x 65 cm, signed ‘Peeter Neeffs 1654’, Leonard Koetser Zurich (1968), [Inv. 0145]; Peeter II Neeffs, Interior of the Cathedral of Our Lady from the Transept to the South, 1654, oil on panel, 41.9 x 61 cm, signed ‘Peeter Neeffs 1654’, Leggatt London (1929) [Inv. 0146]. The second painting has several more groups of figures than the first. A third undated painting is clearly based on both interior views, but with many variations in the interior's finish, for example the absence of altars in the nave and the placement of an organ above the south portal. Peeter II Neeffs, Variation on the Cathedral of Our Lady, oil on panel, 35.7 x 51.6 cm, signed upper right 'peeter/neeffs', Sotheby's London auction, December 14, 2000, no. 117 [Inv. 0111]. Whereabouts of the painting is unknown. https://www.codart.nl/research-study/whereabouts-of-eight-artworks-depicting-church-interiors-sought-for-exhibition-perspective-in-antwerp-in-2016/ "