{"id":41738,"date":"2021-06-22T18:29:14","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T16:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topa.be\/st-andries\/qr-codes\/qr09\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T19:17:32","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T17:17:32","slug":"qr09","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/topa.be\/en\/st-andries\/qr-codes\/qr09\/","title":{"rendered":"SAK QR09 \u2013 St Eligius Altar of the Minters"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Saint Andrew\u2019s Church<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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St Eligius Altar of the Minters<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Original triptych, Maerten de Vos, 1601, today in the Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts<\/p>\n

Central panel: a contemporary photographic reproduction, courtesy Agfa-Gevaert<\/p>\n

Outer panels:\u00a0\u2018The Avarice of Egoism\u2019\u00a0<\/em>versus\u00a0\u2018The generosity of Charity\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Immediately after the liberation of Antwerp by the Spanish forces in 1585 the Minters\u2019 Guild rebuilt their altar at St. Andrew\u2019s, which had been destroyed by Calvinists during the 1566 Iconoclastic Fury. A triptych was commissioned from Maerten de Vos, then one of the city\u2019s most renowned painters.<\/p>\n

The altar is dedicated to the patron saint Eligius: due to his craftsmanship and his honesty he was appointed royal minter by the king of the Francs. Moreover, the saint abandoned worldly fortune for a life as a missionary priest and was the first historical figure to visit Antwerp around 650 C.E.\u00a0 Enough reason for the (Antwerp) minters to choose Eligius as their patron saint.<\/p>\n

On the central panel\u00a0The question to Jesus about the tribute to Caesar<\/em>\u00a0(Mt. 22:15-22), the high priests and scribes have sent accomplices to trick Jesus into an answer while teaching in the Temple of Jerusalem. They ask Him if the Jews are to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor. He answers:\u00a0\u2018Show me a denarius. whose image and name does it bear?\u2019 \u2018<\/em>The henchmen reply:\u00a0\u2018Caesar\u2019s.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0A positive answer would have meant He was not the genuine Messiah, as this person was expected to defend the rights of the Jews against the Roman occupiers. With a negative reply the accomplices would have handed Him over to the Roman administrator as an insurrectionist.\u00a0\u201cThen repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(Lc.20:21-26). The astonishment was great at this apt reply, in which state and religion are separated: one cannot misuse religion for political purposes and vice versa.<\/p>\n

In 1798 the French administration confiscated the triptych of the minters. It finally ends up in the Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts, where today it is kept in the cellar storage, far away from the public eye.<\/p>\n

The Works of Mercy<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Painting on panel, Frans II Francken, ca. 1600-1620<\/p>\n

The painting on the north wall also refers to the virtue of generosity. It shows a real-life scene, with the almoners of the city distributing food to the needy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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