 In May 1840 , Etty finally made the trip to Brussels and Antwerp which he had been forced by revolution to abandon in 1830 . He intended to study the works of Rubens , but the briefness of his tour — in the company of Betsy Etty he visited Ostend , Bruges , Antwerp , Brussels , Aachen , Cologne , Bonn and Rotterdam in the course of ten days — meant he had little time for study . The following year he returned to Antwerp and Mechelen for a longer visit to visit St. Rumbold 's Cathedral and to study the substantial collections of Rubens paintings in the two cities . On this second journey he twice visited a Trappist monastery outside Antwerp , staying overnight on one visit , and bought a Trappist habit ; he also bought a Capuchin habit from a monastery in Bruges . These acquisitions prompted paintings on monastic themes over subsequent years . 
