On 22 April, the doors opened to "Baroque Influencers. Jesuits, Rubens and the Art of Persuasion" in Antwerp. The expo is taking place at three venues: Museum Snijders & Rockoxhuis, St Charles Borromeo's Church and Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience.

To win over their audience, the Jesuits developed a unique visual culture that was influential as far away as China. The central exhibition shows how the protagonists of Antwerp of the long 17th century thought, dreamed, worked and prayed.

One such protagonist was Peter Paul Rubens. At the request of the Jesuits, he realised 39 ceiling paintings in St Charles Borromeo's church, which were lost in the fire of 1718. During Baroque Influencers, we try to bring that lost art treasure back to life in the Museum Snijders&Rockoxhuis. We do so through over 40 domestic and foreign masterpieces by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and the Jesuit brother Daniel Seghers.

Furthermore, the exhibition in St Charles Borromeo's Church gathers devotional prints, etchings and books from the collections of various heritage institutions, including the Ruusbroec Society. In the Nottebohm room of the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library, you can admire a reconstruction of the rich interior of the Sodality and the baroque chapel it once was.

The opening weekend was very successful. More than 1,000 visitors came to enjoy the songs of Tutti Fratelli, attended the live podcast recording in the Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience and already paid a first visit to the central exhibition Baroque Influencers. Jesuits, Rubens and the Art of Persuasion. We are over the moon with your positive reactions. The press is also unanimously laudatory: De Standaard newspaper called the whole thing "a teletime machine" and promptly gave the exhibition four stars.