Assumption painting

This painting on panel of a non-identified author dates back to 1599. It dates back to 1599, the year after Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella returned to Brussels following a period of Protestant rule and iconoclasm, which also affected the church in Sablon: the miraculous statue was burned and the current one was a gift from Archduchess Isabella, daughter of King Philip II.
The painting is therefore a reaction to this period that people wanted to erase. It has been painted over another work with texts which are typical for protestant paintings.

The Virgin Mary as well as Her Assumption are typical Catholic themes as well as the patrons behind the four donors who belong to the Serment of the The patron saints behind the donors, members of the Serment, and the inscriptions on the frame all point in the same direction: restoring Catholic power.
The painting was restored thanks to the “Fonds des Amis de l’église Notre-Dame au Sablon” (Friends of the Church of Our Lady of Sablon Fund) and public subsidies.