A wooden statue of an orphaned girl at the Maidens' House Museum (Maagdenhuismuseum) in Antwerp, Belgium
Around 1550 the wealthy merchant Jan van der Meeren wished to improve the plight of poor orphaned girls. Thanks to his patronage the almoners of the Chamber of the Poor built the Maagdenhuis (Maidens' House). Closed in 1882, it was subsequently used as the administrative headquarters of institutions that tended to the poor, such as the Commission of Public Assistance and its successor, the public social welfare center (OCMW). The former chapel has been used as a museum since 1930. The OCMW's amazing art collection in Maagdenhuismuseum consists of paintings by such artists as Rubens, Jordaens and Van Dyck, sculptures, majolica, furniture and archival documents. Items such as the clothing and objects which mothers left with foundlings bear testimony to the history of the care for orphans and foundlings in Antwerp.
Size: 3840px × 5760px
Location: Maagdenhuismuseum, Lange Gasthuisstraat 33, 2000 Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium, Western Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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