Assumption

This painting on panel of a non-identified author dates back to 1599. This is the year after the return of Archduke Albert and his wife Isabella to Brussels which had known the religious wars and iconoclasts for several years. The church at the Sablon also suffered from these troubles and the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary was burned. The present one is a donation of Archduchess Isabelle, daughter of King Filip the second of Spain.
This painting is a reaction to these events. 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 crossbowmen of the church at the Sablon. Everything has the same aim: re-establish Catholicism.  
The painting has been restored thanks to the “Friends of the Notre Dame au Sablon Church Fund” and public subsidies.