november-2009

EDUCATION | HOUSE OF ERASMUS
displays them modestly and tastefully. However, it is steadily
gaining quite a reputation and in 2009 won an award voted for
by the public as part of the Brussels Museum Prize competition.
Brief stay
Born in the late 1460s, in Rotterdam, Erasmus was a
humanist philosopher, theologian and writer who spent much
of his life working his way around Europe. From May to
October 1521, he lived at the elegant home of his friend Pieter
Wychman, a teacher at the neighbouring collegiate church.
Although his stay was short, Erasmus made a big
impression. In the 17th century, pilgrims began visiting the
house “where the great Erasmus had lived”.
Wychman’s home was connected to a béguinage, a group of
buildings used by the béguine, Catholic lay sisters. Visitors can
now buy a joint ticket for the house where Erasmus stayed
and the tiny béguinage.
“Anderlecht is one of the most ancient communes, with a
rich history, but people just don’t know about it,” says Kaat
Van Den Straeten, a science teacher visiting the house with
her two young children. “This museum has such a great
atmosphere, there are usually few visitors and it’s really
peaceful. Some of the artwork is really amazing.”
Within these walls
Wychman’s home, which has survived intact since the 16th
century, is now used as a museum and a study centre, with
rooms re-created to show how Erasmus lived and worked
during his stay there.
After the reception room, visitors can explore fi ve further
rooms. The Chamber of Rhetoric is dedicated to Erasmus’s visit
and exudes a 16th-century ambience. The wooden fl oors give
off an ancient, musty aroma and the fl oorboards creak with
every step. Glass cabinets contain letters and academic papers
written by Erasmus, and stunning paintings line the walls.
A large religious painting by Hieronymus Bosch hangs
opposite a terrifying vision by Pieter Huys of a surreal
landscape populated with monsters and strange creatures.
Many visitors spend a long time in front of this painting, half
intrigued and half horrifi ed by the painter’s bizarre
imagination. Often, the heavy curtains are drawn and the
lamps contribute to a medieval atmosphere.
In the study, Erasmus sat hunched, writing more than 40
letters a day. The house holds a collection of 3,000 of the
22,000 letters Erasmus penned during his lifetime. Visitors can
see the table he sat at, quill in hand, as well as some of the
missives, written in Latin on now yellowing paper.
The room is decorated with portraits of Erasmus by Quinten
Metsys, Hans Holbein and Albrecht Dürer, in which the great
man is often depicted at work, standing before his desk or
with a book in his hand.
Upstairs is the gorgeous Renaissance Hall. Here, the
architect used a trick of perspective – the distance between the
windows diminishes towards the end of the room, to create an
illusion of depth. The hall contains paintings from the 15th and
16th century Flemish school, including little-known works by
Hieronymus Bosch, Joost van Cleve, Pieter Huys and Frans
Floorboards creak with
every step and stunning
paintings line the walls
42 | Brussels Airlines b.spirit! magazine | Nov/Dec 09
n The rooms in the
house aim to show
how Erasmus lived
and worked
Where
to go
Adresse
La Maison
d’Érasme
31 Rue du
Chapitre,
Anderlecht,
Brussels, tel.
+32 (0)2 521
1383,
erasmushouse.
museum
dégage une ambiance extraordinaire, il n’y a en général pas
beaucoup de visiteurs et c’est réellement paisible. Certaines
œuvres sont vraiment étonnantes. »
Intra muros
La demeure de Wychman, restée intacte depuis le XVI e siècle,
est actuellement un musée et un centre d’études, et certaines
de ses pièces ont été recréées afi n de montrer comment Érasme
y a vécu et travaillé durant son séjour.
Passé l’accueil, les visiteurs peuvent découvrir cinq pièces.
La Chambre de Rhétorique est consacrée au séjour d’Érasme
à Anderlecht et nous replonge au XVI e siècle. Le parquet de
bois dégage un parfum ancien, de « renfermé » et ses planches
craquent sous les pas. Les vitrines présentent des lettres et
documents académiques rédigés par Érasme et d’étonnantes
peintures d’exception ornent les murs. Une grande peinture
religieuse de Jérôme Bosch y fait face à une vision terrifi ante
d’un paysage surréaliste, habité de monstres et de créatures
étranges, signé Pieter Huys. Nombre de visiteurs s’arrêtent
un long moment face à cette peinture, le regard mi-intrigué,
mi-horrifi é par l’étrange imagination de l’artiste. Souvent, les
lourdes tentures sont tirées et un éclairage artifi ciel donne à
la pièce une couleur médiévale.
Dans le Cabinet de Travail, Érasme pouvait passer des
heures, assis, à écrire jusqu’à plus de 40 lettres par jour. La
maison possède une collection de 3 000 documents parmi les
22 000 missives rédigées par Érasme au cours de sa vie. Ici,
les visiteurs peuvent voir la table à laquelle il s’installait, ainsi
que quelques lettres en latin, sur du papier entre-temps jauni.
La pièce est ornée de différents portraits d’Érasme, œuvres
de Quinten Metsys, Hans Holbein et Albrecht Dürer. Le plus
souvent, Érasme y est représenté au travail, debout devant
son bureau ou un livre à la main.
La Salle Renaissance, pièce majeure de l’établissement, se
situe à l’étage. Ici, l’architecte a joué avec la perspective – la
distance qui sépare les fenêtres diminue au fur et à mesure
que l’on avance vers l’extrémité de la pièce, pour créer une
illusion de profondeur. Cette salle présente des œuvres des