3-011-964 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Grand Festival of the Municipality and Royal Academy of Antwerp: inauguration of an allegorical statue of Antwerp crowning the bust of Teniers, 1864. View of '...the inauguration of M. Van Arendonck's allegorical statue, or rather his group of sculpture, on the Grande Place...It was in 1664 that one of the greatest of Flemish painters, David Teniers the younger, obtained from the Royal Government a charter for the establishment of the Antwerp Academy, which has succeeded to the functions of the ancient Guild of Saint Luke, formerly renowned as a corporation and school of artists. The bicentenary festival of 1864 was, therefore, appropriately chosen for a public commemoration of the fame of Teniers in connection with the history of his native town. The Governor, the Burgomaster, the members of the Municipal Corporation, and deputations from the principal colleges...were present. The...[statue] consisting of a female figure, which stands for the city of Antwerp, placing a crown upon the bust of Teniers, was then uncovered amidst the applause of the assembled company'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.