Antwerp hosts an annual market in honour of the city's most famous resident and painter of curvaceous 16th-century lovelies - Rubens. Traders dress in period costume to peddle their wares, turning the Grote Markt into one of the master's works.
In the 16th century, Antwerp was head and shoulders above Brussels as the artistic capital of Belgium and (arguably) of Europe. The masters of the Flemish school - Jordaens, Van Dyke and Rubens - were to develop a style which combined Northern detail and atmosphere with the Italian style and flair. Rubens remains Antwerp's most illustrious citizen.
