During the middle of the sixteenth century, Antwerp’s old Gothic city hall, built in 1406, had become too small for the rapidly expanding city, at the time known simply as ‘the Metropolis’. The city council decided to build a new city hall just north of the existing one. Having just become the world’s most powerful commercial center – eclipsing cities such as Bruges, Genoa and even Venice – the new building was to become a symbol of the city’s wealth and power.The city council originally intended to build the new city hall in a Gothic style, but by the time the required funds were found, Renaissance had become the new fashionable architecture style, favored by progressive artists such as Cornelis Floris II de Vriendt, who was responsible for most of the building’s appearance. The design by de Vriendt was heavily influenced by Italian architecture and, as a result, is a Flemish version of the Florentine Renaissance palaces.Construction of the building started in 1561 and was completed four years later. The facade is richly decorated with statues, ornaments and coat of arms. In 1587 jesuits – under the instructions of the Spanish occupiers – replaced the centrally located statue of Brabo – symbol of the city – by a statue of Mary. This statue was removed in its turn in 1794, during the French occupation, and was only put back in its niche in 1831, right after the end of the Dutch occupation.