The St. Walburga Church is a 17th-century Roman-Catholic church in Bruges built by the Jesuits in a Baroque style. It is now a parish church and contains many valuable art objects.
The St. Walburga Church is a 17th-century Roman-Catholic church in Bruges built by the Jesuits in a Baroque style. It is now a parish church and contains many valuable art objects.
In 1596 the Jesuits first built a chapel. Soon after they started building a church with a college, a convent, a chapel and garden. Formal construction of the church took place between 1619 and 1641 after a design by local Jesuit architect Pieter Huyssens (1577-1637). After his death, his fellow Jesuit J. Boulé took over the supervision of the construction works. The original designs of Huyssens with respect to the tower, the vault and windows of the nave were not fully executed due to financial constraints and rivalry among the Jesuits of Bruges and Antwerp. The church was dedicated to St. Francis Xavier by Msgr. Nicolas de Haudrion in 1642.
In 1773 the Jesuit Order was dissolved and the church closed by imperial decree. The Jesuit church was taken over as parish church in 1777 as the original parish church was dilapidated. The parish church was demolished in 1781 and its furnishings sold to finance the restoration of the decaying Jesuit church. In 1779 the former Jesuit church was inaugurated as a parish church and the relics of St. Walburga were transferred to it. The church was turned into a Temple of the Law in 1796 by the French occupiers. The church recovered its religious function under the name "St. Donatian Church" in 1805 after the transfer of the relics of Saint Donatian from the dilapidated church of the same name.
In 1854 the church was unofficially awarded its current name. The church incurred heavy damage mainly to the northern aisle due to a bomb explosion in 1918. [1]
The stone façade was inspired by the Church of the Gesù in Rome. The structure of the church consists of an aisled nave of seven bays and built-in choir with one bay and an apse. The building was constructed with bricks while sandstone was used for the façade.
Inside, the Baroque character is strengthened by mouldings, volutes, broken pediments, and pilasters and columns, which create light effects.
The floor of the choir has geometric motives and it has been claimed that they represent an ancient Arabic language called Kufic. [2] The church holds several paintings in the choir, aisles and above the rood screen including: 14 paintings on the Fifteen mysteries of the rosary from the circle of Jan Anton Garemyn (1750), the Glorification of the Holy Sacrament by Jan Anton Garemyn (1740s), the Coronation of Our Lady by Erasmus Quellinus II (17th century), the Lamentation of Christ by Joseph Denis Odevaere (1812), the Resurrection by Joseph-Benoît Suvée (18th century), the Vision of St. Ignatius by P. Cassiers, a triptych of Our Lady of the Dry Tree by Pieter Claeissens the Younger (1620) and an anonymous canvas of St. Domenic healing a child.
The church has a monumental marble altar by Jacob Cocx (dedicated in 1643) with a statue of St. Walburga by Houvenaegel (1842). Above the portals are placed busts of St. Francis Xavier and St. Francis Borgia and statues of St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. Stanislaus Kostka. [1]
The northern side altar is by Pieter Verbrugghen I (1657) with two Baroque portals and various statues of saints dating from the 17th century. The southern side altar is also by Pieter Verbrugghen I (1669) and has oak doors and statues of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Rochus.
The white marble communion rails were made by Hendrik Frans Verbrugghen in 1695. These rails are a high point of Flemish Baroque sculpture. Because of the virtuoso treatment of the marble they appear to be modeled in wax. [3] The confessionals in classicizing style date from 1802. The oak choir stalls and communion rails are from the 18th century. The Baroque pulpit is a work of Artus Quellinus II (1670) and was made on the basis of the iconography of Willem Hesius.
The organ case was commenced in 1735 by Frenchman Cornil Cacheux and completed by Jean Baptiste Fremat in 1739. It is decorated with statues of graceful women and Jesus on the Globe. [1]
Baroque sculpture is the sculpture associated with the Baroque style of the period between the early 17th and mid 18th centuries. In Baroque sculpture, groups of figures assumed new importance, and there was a dynamic movement and energy of human forms—they spiralled around an empty central vortex, or reached outwards into the surrounding space. Baroque sculpture often had multiple ideal viewing angles, and reflected a general continuation of the Renaissance move away from the relief to sculpture created in the round, and designed to be placed in the middle of a large space—elaborate fountains such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini‘s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, or those in the Gardens of Versailles were a Baroque speciality. The Baroque style was perfectly suited to sculpture, with Bernini the dominating figure of the age in works such as The Ecstasy of St Theresa (1647–1652). Much Baroque sculpture added extra-sculptural elements, for example, concealed lighting, or water fountains, or fused sculpture and architecture to create a transformative experience for the viewer. Artists saw themselves as in the classical tradition, but admired Hellenistic and later Roman sculpture, rather than that of the more "Classical" periods as they are seen today.
Pieter Verbrugghen I was a Flemish sculptor from the Baroque.
Erasmus Quellinus I or Erasmus Quellinus the Elder was a Flemish sculptor best known for classically inspired ornamentation work and copies after the antique. He was the founder of an important Antwerp dynasty of artists.
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Jan Claudius de Cock was a Flemish painter, sculptor, print artist and writer. De Cock produced both religious and secular sculpture on a small as well as monumental scale. De Cock completed many commissions in the Dutch Republic. He worked on decorations for the courtyard of the Breda Palace for William III, King of England, Ireland, and Scotland and stadtholder. He is credited with introducing neoclassicism in Flemish sculpture. He was a prolific draughtsman and designed prints for the Antwerp publishers. As a writer, he wrote a poem about the 1718 fire in the Jesuit Church in Antwerp and a book of instructions on the art of sculpture.
Pieter Huyssens was a Flemish Jesuit brother and Baroque architect.
Hendrik Frans Verbrugghen or Hendrik Frans Verbruggen was a Flemish sculptor and draftsman, who is best known for his Baroque church furniture in various Belgian churches.
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Pieter Verbrugghen the Youngeror Pieter Verbrugghen II(1648, Antwerp - after 1691, Antwerp) was a Flemish sculptor, draughtsman, etcher and stone merchant.
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Pieter Scheemaeckers, Pieter Scheemackers, Pieter Scheemaeckers I or Pieter Scheemaeckers the Elder was a Flemish sculptor who played an important role in the development of Baroque church sculpture in the late 17th-century Habsburg Netherlands. He was also known for his marble funerary monuments an small scale ivory works. He was the father of Peter Scheemakers who became a leading sculptor of portraits and church monuments in 18th century London.
The St Walburga Church in Antwerp, Belgium, formerly a parish church, was demolished in 1817.
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Norbertus van den Eynde (I), Norbrecht van den Eynde and Norbert van den Eynde was a Flemish sculptor. He is mainly known for his religious sculptures and church furniture. He was the son of the prominent sculptor Huibrecht van den Eynde and a member of the van den Eynde family of sculptors. Van den Eynde was a close associate of Artus Quellinus II. He undertook several commission in the Antwerp Cathdral, including several altarpieces.
Huibrecht, Hubrecht, Hubertus or Hubert van den Eynde was a Flemish sculptor. He is mainly known for his religious sculptures and church furniture although he also worked on some secular projects. He was the first prominent sculptor of the van den Eynde family of artists and merchants. In the early 17th century, van den Eynde was one of the leading Flemish sculptors who rejected contrived Mannerist formulae in favour of greater realism. His work shows a development from the early Baroque to the high Baroque. His late style is characterized by a penchant for movement and dashing draperies.
Lodewijk Willemsens or Ludovicus Willemsens (1630–1702) was a Flemish sculptor from Antwerp. His works comprise mostly sculptured church furniture, and to a lesser extent individual sculptures, both portrait busts as well as statues of saints for churches.
Willem Kerricx or Willem Kerricx the Elder was a Flemish sculptor active in Antwerp. His works comprise mostly sculptured church furniture, individual sculptures, both portrait busts as well as statues of saints for churches and funerary monuments. His style shows the transition from the highly dramatic expressiveness of the Antwerp late Baroque towards a more gracious and elegant Rococo style. He operated a large workshop in Antwerp which was continued by his son into the middle of the 18th century.
Willem Ignatius Kerricx was a Flemish sculptor, painter, draftsman, architect, engineer, playwright and author active in Antwerp in the first half of the 18th century. His sculptural works comprise mostly sculptured church furniture, individual sculptures, mainly statues of saints for churches and a few funerary monuments. His sculptural style is typical for the late Flemish Baroque while he shows a preference for Classicism in his architectural projects. He took over the large family sculpture workshop in Antwerp. As a painter he created both history paintings for churches and still lifes. He was also employed as an architect and engineer, mainly on reconstruction projects. In his youth, he composed a number of comedies and tragedies for the Antwerp theatre.
