More than three years of restoration work were needed to give back to the chapels built by the de la Tour et Tassis family their former glory. The Saint Ursula chapel, entirely in black marble and decorated with magnificent sculptures in Carrara marble, was a sepulchral chapel. In the inaccessible crypt lie 17 members of the family. The greatest sculptors of the epoch were involved in the decoration: Duquesnoy the Younger, Matthieu Van Beveren, Gabriel de Grupello, Jan van Delen and others. It is here that the statue of ‘Charity’ by Jan van Delen, stolen during the French Revolution and bought at public auction in London by the King Baudouin Foundation in aid of the church, has been returned to its rightful place.
In the adjoining sacristy, a small museum has been created to tell the story of the church and the neighbourhood that grew up around it. Several families have played an important role here over the centuries: the Habsburgs, de la Tour et Tassis, d’Arenberg, de Brouchoven, d’Ursel…
Restoration of the Sainte Ursula chapel and creation of a museum in the adjoining sacristy
Date :
2023
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The Friends of the Church Our Lady at the Sablon Fund appeals to generosity to all those who have at heart the preservation of the cultural and patrimonial heritage of this church which played an important role in the history of Brussels and of Belgium.