visitors' guide to the presentation (PDF, 341 kB) - Koninklijk Museum ...

12
Theodoor van Thulden, after Peter Paul Rubens, The Stage of Mercury,
1639-1641, etching and engraving, Print Collection, Plantin-Moretus
Museum, Antwerp.
The Stage of Mercury was displayed on the Sint-Jansbrug during the
Joyous Entry of Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp in 1635. It
symbolised the flowering and decline of Antwerp as centre of overseas
commerce. During the long-drawn-out war between the Northern
Provinces and Spain, the blockade of the river Scheldt led to the
decline of Antwerp’s prosperity.
The central panel depicts Mercury, the god of Commerce, quitting
Antwerp. He holds his staff and a moneybag in his upheld hand. It is
clear that he is on the point of leaving, albeit that a winged putto is
attempting to hold him back by clutching at a flap of his cloak. The
scene is set on the Scheldt. While Commerce, personified by Mercury,
is leaving the Antwerp, the river god Scaldis, the personification of the
Scheldt, lies slumbering. The female figure to the right is the city
maiden Antverpia, who personifies Antwerp. On her head, she bears a
city crown in the form of turreted city walls. Her posture expresses
despair at her inability to prevent the god of Commerce departing the
city. The objects around her are also symbolic of lost overseas trade.
She kneels besides an unused anchor and an upturned boat on which
a sleeping seaman is resting.
The scene on the left depicts Abundance and Wealth, and is a reference
to Antwerp’s rich past. We see Antverpia accepting the riches
from the woman beside her, who holds a cornucopia (a horn of plenty)
in her hand. This woman personifies Abundance. In the adjoining
niche is the allegorical figure of Comus, the god of Revelry, so apt in
this scene of prosperity.
(14)