Recently, the Flemish Community acquired 'The Virgin of Consolation' by James Ensor. The painting had been on the 'Flemish Masterpieces' list since 2007. You can see the painting until 25 February in the 'Rare & Indispensable' exhibition. After that, it will be given into long-term loan at the MSK in Ghent.
The MAS collection comprises approximately 2,400 objects related to the poesjenelle tradition, originating from the former Folklore Museum: rod puppets, stage props, signs, theatre programmes and photographs. We also have rod puppets from other theatre traditions and a number of hand puppets.
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.
CLOSED - The MAS | Visible Storage displayed hidden gems from the MAS collection and from private collections in the exhibition ‘Chocolate Secrets’. A surprising exhibition about the origins of cocoa and how it has been enjoyed in Antwerp for five centuries.
The MAS, together with a number of key partners, collected stories from Antwerper citizens about what a "home" means to them. A dozen families collaborated on the exhibition for a year.
CLOSED - Everyone knows them: the baker, the butcher, the greengrocer, the grocer round the corner. You drop in and do your shopping. There’s lots to tell about: the shopkeepers, the customers, the merchandise and of course the shops themselves. But you can saw for yourself in this exhibition, in the neighbourhoods where the stories were collected.
The freeing of the Scheldt was a landmark event in Flemish history. In mid-1863, Antwerp celebrated that after more than 250 years, merchant shipping on the Scheldt was truly free again. A telling painting of this ‘Scheldt Free!’ celebration from the MAS collection can be seen in our Visible Storage.
The nine contemplations on the impurity of the human body depicts how finite the human body is. Japanese monks used such series as an aid to their meditation.
