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Discover the collection

Antwerp is a port city where the world has been mooring at the docks for centuries. The MAS collection is the place where city and world meet. 500,000 exhibits offer a varied perspective on the city and its age-old contacts with the world. Some of them are displayed in permanent and temporary exhibitions, but most are kept in storage. In the Visible Storage area, the MAS lifts a corner of the veil. For the really inquisitive, the MAS also has its entire collection on display online.

A remarkable collection

FREE ENTRANCE | Maria Nijs assembled 200 precious dolls, made in Europe between 1830 and 1930. From her remarkable collection, MAS acquired eleven of these dolls. A painting of Maria with her favorite dolls, created by her father, is also part of the MAS collection. The 11 dolls, together with the painting, can be admired in the Visible Storage starting June 9.

The Averbode altarpiece

In 1873, the Antwerp Museum of Antiquities purchased a 16th-century retable of the Averbode Abbey, depicting the Lamentation of Christ. 150 years later, it is given on long-term loan to the abbey and thus returns home.

Sarvavid in the Rubin Museum of Art

Nine paintings from the Sarvavid series recently left for New York, where they are on display at the Rubin Museum of Art. MAS colleague Roselyne, curator of the Asia collection, travelled with the loans. Wondering what is involved in such a loan escort? You can read it here...

Objects in the exhibition

Except for a dozen or so loans, all the pieces on display in the exhibition come from the MAS collection. The objects have been chosen for what they portray, their significance or their (historical) story.

Mystical Marriage of Christ

2 stained-glass windows

The MAS collection contains a number of beautiful stained-glass windows from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Two of the rare intact examples are listed as Flemish masterpieces: rather large stained-glass windows from around 1600 depicting the Mystical Marriage of Christ.