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The City Park

There are many traces of the Moretus family near the City Park. This district was built around 1870, and the city bought a lot of land from the Moretus-Della Faille family there. The current police station, Plantin en Moretuslei, the Plantin metro station: they are all linked to the family.

Hercules and the Nemean lion

Rubens had a soft spot for the ancient hero Hercules. In this drawing, he bends forward slightly as he crushes the head of the Nemean Lion. In his attempt to find the ideal posture, Rubens gave Hercules three right and two left legs.

meisje aan het werk tijdens etsworkshop

Holiday workshops

School holidays? You know the place to go: the Museum Plantin-Moretus offers numerous workshops for your children aged 5 to 12 years. They are all about being creative using the basic printing techniques – etching, printing, stamping and bookbinding to name but a few. Your children will learn in a fun way and give their creativity free rein.

The shop

With its counter and cabinets, this shop is still fully furnished for the sale of books – right down to the money scales for checking silver and gold coins. The bookshop was moved here from Kammenstraat by Balthasar I Moretus in 1639.

loden letters

Hendrik van den Keere (1540-1580), Grande musicque

Printing was also a revolutionary development in the world of music. The Ghent type founder Hendrik van den Keere supplied Christophe Plantin with 44 sets of punches and matrices. Plantin used the ‘Grande Musicque’ type set to print choral music.

portretten van Seneca in de Justus Lipsius kamer

Portraits by Rubens

You will find an extensive collection of paintings in the Museum Plantin-Moretus. Nearly half of these are portraits of the family. The painter? Peter Paul Rubens!

Portrait of Christophe Plantin

Peter Paul Rubens was a family friend to Balthasar I Moretus, who commissioned portraits of the Plantin-Moretus family from the baroque painter.

The dying Seneca

As a humanist, Balthasar I Moretus was a great admirer of Seneca. He commissioned a painting by Rubens of the Roman rhetorician. The suspicious emperor Nero compelled Seneca to commit suicide in 65 AD.

Rubens, design of printer's mark

As well as painting for Balthasar I Moretus, Rubens also designed printer’s marks. This design was used for the title page of the second volume of the Opera omnia, (collected works) of the humanist Justus Lipsius.

detail van kunstkabinet

Rosewood curio cabinet

The museum has a rich collection of antique furniture. The rosewood and ebony curio cabinet definitely belonged to the Moretus family. The cabinet is supported by four Moors – a learned allusion to the name Moretus.