Church of St. Charles Borromeo: Antwerp’s Treasure

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,' we visit a highlight of the Northern Baroque style.

On St. Charles Borromeo church, a façade with sculpted angels, saints, and flowers, with sides set slightly back and topped by small domes exemplifies the transition towards the more ornate high Baroque style. From top to bottom, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns decorate its three levels creatively mixing classical traditions. Mikhail Markovskiy/Shutterstock

This Belgian church was called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” at the time of its construction. St. Charles Borromeo church is among the most magnificent churches of the early Baroque era, and among the first built in that style in northwestern Europe. It cost so much that the builders, the Jesuits of Antwerp, were reduced to austerity measures.

Begun in 1615, the church was inspired by the Jesuits’ headquarters in Rome, the Church of the Gesu, which is considered the first Baroque church and was completed just 30 years earlier.

Baroque painting and sculpture, as well as its architecture, used the Renaissance’s technical advances to depict religious scenes in a realistic way.

Church buildings in the Baroque style were meant to provide a glimpse of heaven on earth, and to express God’s greatness and love. The classical tradition provided a foundation. This is seen in a building’s symmetry and proportions which include fluted columns and domes.

Baroque architecture, however, introduced fluidity, exemplified by the style’s frequent use of curved rather than straight lines. This gave early- to high-Baroque architecture a more ornate appearance while avoiding severity and coldness.

Architects Pieter Huyssens and François d'Aguilon handled the engineering aspects and many of the church’s aesthetic features. Broadly guiding them and fine-tuning important details was one of the greatest artists of the Baroque era—Peter Paul Rubens. While he did not work extensively in architecture, Rubens studied it, designed his own home in Antwerp, and contributed his expertise, as well as numerous paintings, to this church in his home city.

The elaborately decorated black and gold sanctuary contrasts with the relative simplicity of the white arches and columns, trimmed with gold, which dominate the nave (central aisle) and strengthen the visual emphasis on the sanctuary. Baroque churches were designed to direct attention forward toward the altar, and this effect is heightened by the tragic destruction of Rubens’s original elaborate ceilings in a lightning storm. KerrysWorld/Shutterstock

Hans van Mildert carved the high altar from a design by Peter Paul Rubens, who also created the painting of the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus above it. On the left are Carrara marble sculptures of St. Ignatius Loyola (in the bottom niche) and St. Francis Borgia above. akturer/Shutterstock

The large main dome was designed in collaboration with Rubens. The oculus is set against a white background, surrounded by golden decorative features including sculpted angels. Light from the oculus is reflected by the surrounding ceiling; it illuminates and draws attention to the sanctuary directly underneath. Julija Ogrodowski/Shutterstock

Above the altar of the Lady Chapel is a copy of a Rubens “Assumption,” which was originally set amid marble and gilded stucco decorations. The original is now in Vienna’s Museum of Fine Arts. Renata Sedmakova/Shutterstock

On either side of the nave are confessionals by sculptors Jan Pieter van Baurscheit the Elder and Michiel van der Voort the Elder. Placed in front of the carved woodwork along the wall are sculptures of angels; in the center of each section are scenes from the lives of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier. Haalidoodi/CC BY-SA 4.0

Galleries above the northern and southern sides of the nave have their own simpler side chapels. This chapel has an altar and wooden altar rail reminiscent of Gothic churches. The painting above the altar depicts the conversion of St. Hubert. KerrysWorld/Shutterstock

What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to [e-mail].