ABSTRACT
As the most ancient in the country, the Academy of Antwerp took pride in its rich history and tradition. While the recent publications about the Antwerp Academy stress Van Bree's enriching contributions to the program, the authors of the anniversary book of 1864 were less convinced. The opposition between Antwerp and Brussels was a psychological as well as a stylistic reality. In Brussels, the Belgian sculptor Gilles Lambert Godecharle was the director of the Academy from 1814 until 1835. Strangely enough, Godecharle, at that time an internationally renowned sculptor, did not encourage his own discipline of sculpting at the Academy. Godecharle seems to have played a substantial role in this artistic inertia, since he was more than once accused of neglecting his responsibilities as Academy director to stimulate the fine arts. Although the importance of the private education of sculptors cannot be stressed enough, the experience gained in the private studio is a difficult point to recover.
