The Church of Our Lady with its 122-metre brick steeple,
dominates the skyline of the city. It is quite literally the ‘high
spot’ of the stonemason’s art in medieval Bruges. The church
also plays host to a rich collection of art treasures, of which
the crowning glory is definitely the beautiful ‘Madonna and
Child’ by Michelangelo. The choir aisle is also a
treasure trove of exceptional pieces: paintings and exquisite
woodcarving, the 16th-century ceremonial tombs of Mary of Burgundy
and Charles the Bold, as well as other painted tombs from the 13th
and 14th centuries, etc.
The Madonna of Bruges is a
marble sculpture by Michelangelo, of Mary with the infant Jesus.
The work is also notable in that it was the only sculpture by
Michelangelo to leave Italy during his lifetime. It was bought by
Giovanni and Alessandro Moscheroni (Mouscron), from a family of
wealthy cloth merchants in Bruges. The bowed head of Mary in the Bruges
Madonna, with its broad, expressive forehead, is derived from
Michelangelo's earlier Pietà and conveys a stirring
sense of deep and poignant acceptance. Michelangelo often used
this somber tone when portraying the Madonna and Child to suggest
Christ's later passion and death.
This stunning marble sculpture is
the only sculpture by the great Italian artist present in the Low
Countries.
There are outstanding paintings
by Pieter Poubus (Last Supper and Adoration of the
Shepherds) and Gerard David (Transfigeration) but after the
Michelangelo it is the choir area that holds most interest.
In the choir of the church, are
the magnificent tombstones of Mary of Burgundy and her father
Charles the Bold. Duchess Mary reigned over the Low Countries in
the last part of the 15th century.
At the age of 25 the
Duchess met her death by a fall from her horse on 27 March 1482
near the Castle of Wijnendale. She loved riding, and was falconing
with Maximilian when her horse tripped, threw her, and then landed
on top of her, breaking her back. She died several days later,
having made a detailed will. She is buried in the Church of Our
Lady in Bruges.
Charles the Bold died in 1477 in
Nancy, France, during a battle. Brought back to Bruges in 1550,
his remains lie next to those of his daughter. Mary's sarcophagus,
made from black marble surmounting by a reclining image of her in
bronze is an example of late gothic style. Charles tomb also has a
reclining image of the diseased in bronze. Only completed in the
mid-16th century it has the later early renaissance style. In
front of both tombs is a triptych by Barend van Orley.
Elsewhere you'll find the
funerary chapel of Pieter Lanchals containing frescoed tombs in
maroon and black as well as Van Dyck's starkly atmospheric
painting of Christ on the cross.
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