Belgian Sculpture of the 18th Century

1. Overview of the development of Belgian sculpture

At the beginning of the century, national features of the last century are preserved in the Belgian school. From the middle of the century, there is a growing influence of French classicism.

The Belgian sculpture of this century was still in the hands of experienced, skilled craftsmen brought up by a long tradition of craftsmen. Capable, though not inspired by the Belgian sculptors of this time, still found profitable earnings abroad, like Skemakers, Reisbrak and Nollekens in London, Genta Peter Anton Anton Vershaffelt (1710–1793) in Munich, Jan Peter Anton Tassart from Antwerp (1727 –1788) in Berlin. Many craftsmen, on the other hand, returned from Rome and Paris, where they spent years of apprenticeship or wandering, to their homeland in Belgium, where the need to decorate churches with altars, pulpits, statues of saints, and gravestone monuments delivered the best of them to abundant work.

"Rubensovsky" style continued to live mainly in the school Lykasa Federba. We already know the disciple Federb, Boekstuins of Mecheln, who died in 1734. Theodore Verhagen of Mecheln (1701–1759) was the most significant pupil of Böxtuins, and the best works are four highly processed statues of the church fathers in the cathedral, carved wooden chair with the Good Shepherd (1741) in the church of sv. John and the famous pulpit of the Church of Notre-Dame-d'Ansvik, in Mecheln. This pulpit (1743–1746) is shaped like a giant tree; below it is depicted very realistically, “The wrath of God upon the progenitors after the fall”, and above its crown a cloud is hovering, on which the Mother of God sits.

The main Gents master of this era was Laurent Delvue (1696–1778), a student of the old Gents masters who completed his artistic education in Rome and completed numerous works for England and Germany; Most of his sculptures are made in Nivelles, where he settled, for various Belgian cities. The best is considered the department in the church of St.. Bavona in Ghent (1745), still imbued with a strong baroque spirit, made of wood and marble. Large marble figures at the floor level represent “Time,” in the form of an old man, asleep under a tree and awakened by the “Truth,” which points him to Christ. The relief medallions on the railing of the pulpit depict the Nativity of Christ and the bust of St. Bavona, the appeal of Saul and the bust of Bishop Anton Trieste. In Brussels, Delvaux decorated the staircase of the “Old Court” (the current State Archives) with the famous statue of Hercules, which, however, is nothing but an unsuccessful imitation of Hercules Farnese, sculptured a statue of St. Jacques-sur-Kodanber for the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Kodanber. Joseph with the Baby Jesus, and for the Royal Park the statues of Flora and Pomona. In the Brussels Museum is his group "The Three Theological Virtues." In any case, he was one of the most skillful sculptors of his time, but only in his art it is difficult to grasp the tendency to false classicism, attributed to him by the Belgian art historians.

The first Belgian pseudo-classical sculptor was a native of Brussels, Jacques Berger (1693-1756), who studied in Paris from Nicolas Custus. Even in the old style sustained his tombstone of Bishop Jean Batista de Smet in the Church of Sts. Bavona in Ghent. The first false classical sculpture of Berger, and at the same time the whole of Belgian art, is considered to be an allegorical group on a small fountain in 1752, adorning the Gran Sablon Square in Brussels. In the midst of the children's figures, Minerva sits on the shield of which are embossed portraits of Franz I and Maria Theresa. One of the boys blows the fanfare of glory. It would be wrong, however, to speak here about Greek neo-classicism. This is only a cold imitation of the French classicism of the previous century.

Progressive classicism is then reflected in the works of Charles-François van Pouquet (1740–1809) and Gilles Lambert Godesharl (1750–1835). Pauke, whom we meet in Paris, Rome and Vienna, was eventually founded in Ghent, where he performed, by the way, in 1779 for the church of Sts. Bavona is a giant statue of the apostles Peter and Paul, in 1782 a beautiful tombstone of Gerard van Gersel with the famous "Creativity" statue in the same church, in 1787, decorated with reliefs, austere and simple church of St.. Jacob Godesharl, as a student of Delvé, was based in Brussels, where in 1780 he decorated the Brabant house of the Guimard estates on Rue de la Lua with a false-classical pediment relief with Justice, in the midst of Constancy and Religion, rewarding virtues and punishing vices. With an allegoric high relief, he also decorated the pediment of the aforementioned castle in Laeken, in the forefront of which he placed twelve reliefs depicting the months of the year between the twelve Corinthian columns bearing the dome. In Brussels Park are his group of Trade and Arts. In the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Kodanber are his figures of the Old and New Testament. In the Brussels Museum, the busts of Napoleon, the first consul, the sculptor Delvé and the painter Lens, show Godesharlu’s characteristic mixture of strict, supposedly Greek styling with subtle observation of life. At one time, Godesharl was glorified as a classical master, and as early as 1881, an allegorical figure, Vensotta, was set up in his memory in Brussels in 1881.