The Spanish Fury

This oil painting is a contemporary representation of the Spanish Fury of 4 August 1576. Spanish mercenaries raging throughout Antwerp left the city in chaos and with countless dead. The painting holds a special position in the cultural memory of war atrocities during the Revolt. In a unique way full of pathos, it shows the horrors of the plunder by the Spanish soldiers in the vicinity of the Grote Markt and the town hall. This anonymous historical document of great art-historical quality is situated in the circle of Gillis Mostaert and dated between 1576 and 1585. Shortly after the surrender to the Spanish Crown (1585) the painting is thought to have left the city. Eventually 400 years later it reappeared in Jersey. The Belgian Social Secretariat purchased the work and donated it in turn to the city of Antwerp in 1980.