Plantin-Moretus House-Workshops-Museum Complex, Belgium

Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005, the Plantin-Moretus Museum was the first museum to receive this recognition, thanks to its unique existence as a prestigious patrician mansion, a centuries-old workshop and – for more than 125 years – an outstanding museum. 

A visit to the museum starts in the small drawing room, where the luxurious art cabinet seen in the picture can be found. It was used to store small, valuable objects such as jewels, coins or exotic items. 

This elegant room also contains portraits, painted by family friend Peter Paul Rubens, of forefather Christophe Plantin and his wife, Jeanne Rivière, and of other family and close friends, all fitting the aristocratic style of decoration that was adopted by the Moretus family. 

Plantin dispatched orders and deliveries from here. Some of the works he published were even on the Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books.

The inner courtyard was already considered to be spectacular back in its day, and was visited by royalty. The façades are adorned with busts of the publishing company’s managers and the garden is still planted according to what would have been popular in the 16th century.

Plantin himself would certainly recognize the plants that can be found in the garden today. He also owned a garden on the outskirts of the city and was friends with some of the most prominent botanists of his time.

Tradesmen always had their own weighing scale and a coin book, where they could look up the value of both their own and foreign coins. The value of a coin was determined by the amount of precious metal it contained.

This was the guest room, which the Moretus family called the Lipsius Room. Justus Lipsius (1547-1606), who was one of the best-known humanists of his time, stayed at the house often. 

The painting above the chimney depicts a typical humanist scene: Lipsius – wearing a fur collar – is explaining a classic text to two of his pupils, and the painter, Peter Paul Rubens, is looking on. The painting also features a bust of the Roman philosopher, Seneca.

The printing room was the heart of the business: the type cases were stored on one side, and the printing presses on the other.

The printing room contains the two oldest surviving printing presses in the world. They are more than 400 years old, so it is quite possible that Plantin himself saw them at work.

Although the casting of typefaces was usually contracted out to specialised firms, Balthasar I Moretus installed his own type foundry on the premises. Each typeface was given its own name in the 16th century, often being named after the designer.

Plantin was very careful about obtaining the right typeface and used more exclusive fonts from French designers, such as Garamont (inventor of the "Garamond" font) and Granjon, in order to outdo his local competitors.

Plantin’s story continues on the second floor of the museum. As founder of one of the largest publishing-printing companies of the time, Plantin mainly printed religious and humanist works.

The location of the Officina Plantiniana in Antwerp was no accident - during the 16th and 17th centuries, scholars from the Low Countries played a significant role in the development of Western thinking.

There were several different approaches to science in the 16th century. Cartographer Mercator and mathematician Gemma Frisius believed in a cosmographical approach, where the world could be classified and understood in relation to divine creation. 

Mathematician Stevin and botanist Dodoens approached science from an empirical angle: they experimented and enumerated data. 

Balthasar I Moretus and subsequent generations of the family collected books out of personal interest. This resulted in a private library with a humanist character: high shelves, lecterns, busts and globes.

The media was a much-feared weapon in the rebellious Netherlands of the 16th century. Ideas and news traveled fast, and the political pamphlet played an essential role in life. Around 8% of Plantin’s overall production was commissioned by various political authorities. 

Although it was widely accepted that reading was a dangerous activity for both men and women, books were increasingly affordable and available. The Bible was a bestseller, as were song books, almanacs and travel stories.

Plantin’s library contains many notable religious works, including the 36-line Gutenberg bible, and the Biblia Regia, an 8-volume polyglot bible which weighs 48 kg (including bindings), and is comprised of 1,788 sheets of paper.

Plantin printed a total of 1,200 copies of the Biblia Regia polyglot bible, as seen in the centre of this photo, for customers such as the King of Spain, the Pope and other influential individuals.

The museum also has a world-class collection of prints and drawings which is kept in the Prentenkabinet, or Print Room. The pieces in the collection range from works by masters of the 16th and 17th century Antwerp School to modern works from after 1800.

The invaluable business archives of the Officina Plantiniana are inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register of documentary heritage and currently contain 1,382 registers, 990 bundles, 187 packages and more than 1,385 pieces of text on parchment.

The museum’s vast collections require space and climate-controlled repositories to ensure optimal conservation. In 2008, a new wing was built, with a reading room where it is possible to consult the various printed works, manuscripts and drawings in the museums’s archives.

In this way, the museum stimulates research into the collection, which is also completely digitalised, so that it can easily be studied by international institutions, specialists, students and the general public alike.