Antwerp school

Painters, artists and craftsmen joined the Guild of Saint Luke, which educated apprentices and guaranteed quality.

Artists such as Otto van Veen and members of the Francken family, working in a late mannerist style, provided new religious decoration.

It also marked a beginning of economic decline in the city, as the Scheldt river was blockaded by the Dutch Republic in 1585 diminishing trade.

The large workshops of Peter Paul Rubens and Jacob Jordaens, and the influence of Anthony van Dyck, made Antwerp the center of the Flemish Baroque.

Antwerp animaliers or animal painters, such as Frans Snyders, Jan Fyt and Paul de Vos dominated this speciality in Europe for at least the first half of the century.