Beyaert’s Square de la Place du Petit Sablon: architectural sculpture, identity, and artistic and political networks in late nineteenth-century Brussels

Abstract

Planned in 1876, the Square de la Place du Petit Sablon by Henri Beyaert (1827-94) (fig. 1) was part of a series of urban modifications that transformed Brussels and some of its key landmarks throughout the nineteenth century.1 The modernization and sanitation of the capital led to a new street layout, following the Parisian model.2 It also involved the Royal district and the Sablon area, which were already connected by a street - rue de la Regence - created in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1872, in parallel with the construction of the new courthouse, this street was extended to link the Sablon - a hill in the historic heart of Brussels' upper town - with the imposing new Law Courts designed by Joseph Poelaert, thus offering a superb perspective of the new edifice.3 Buildings around the Gothic church of Notre Dame, situated in the core of the Sablon area, were demolished as the church underwent a long restoration process. Four years later, in 1876, new plans were made by the government to design the Square de la Place du Petit Sablon.4 At the same time, one of the most important buildings of Brussels' Grand Place, the Maison du Roi, was torn down (in 1873) due to its neglected state, and subsequently rebuilt by Victor Jamaer, following the original plans.5 Inspired by Viollet-le-Duc's theories, Jamaer decided to restore the building to its original shape, including the addition of two galleries on the facade. In order to complete the project, it was decided to create a bronze monument to two Belgian national heroes, the counts of Egmont and Horne, who had been beheaded in 1568 in the Grand Place for their opposition to the Spanish tyranny. The monument was to be designed by one of the favourite artists of the Belgian monarchy, Charles-Auguste Fraikin. The monument was placed on top of a fountain in front of the Maison du Roi.6 It was one of many monuments dedicated to historical figures that were realized in Belgium after its independence. The newly born nation-state needed to establish itself and the arts were assigned a central role in promoting local history and culture, thus developing a national consciousness.7 The government subsequently decided to relocate the monument from the Grand Place to the newly planned Square de la Place du Petit Sablon.8 This decision went against Fraikin's wishes, but was in accord with the city council and the suggestions of Henri Beyaert, who at that time was both a member of the council and of the Royal Commission for Monuments.9 In its new location, the monument maintained its relevance, becoming the focus of the Petit Sablon project.10The square was conceived as a Flemish neo-Renaissance garden, surrounded by an ornate wrought iron fence inspired by one that had once decorated the Place des Bailles, located in front of the Coudenberg Palace, the ancient government seat of the Duchy of Brabant's rulers and focal place of commerce in early modern Brussels. The Coudenberg Palace fence was punctuated by tall stone pillars topped with statues of the Dukes of Brabant designed by the Flemish Renaissance sculptor Jan Borreman. In Beyaert's project, 48 bronze statues representing the sixteenth-century trade professions topped the richly decorated stone columns that supported the fence. These statues were complemented by a semicircle of ten marble statues that offered a representative selection of politicians, intellectuals and artists, which surrounded the fountain of the counts of Egmont and Horne. The fountain was situated in a central position, on the main axis of symmetry of the garden and opposite the ancient palace, originally the residence of the Count of Egmont. The figures chosen had lived in the sixteenth century, considered to be the Golden Age of Flemish culture. They included the politician, soldier, poet, theologian and pedagogue Philippe de Marnix de SainteAldegonde (sculpted by Paul De Vigne); the mathematician and geographer Abraham Ortelius (by Jef Lambeaux); the painter Bernard van Orley (by Julien Dillens); the burgomaster and magistrate of Brussels Jean de Locquenghien (by Godefroid Van de Kerckhove); the cartographer Mercator (by Louis Van Biesbroeck); the botanist Rembert Dodonee (by Alphonse de Tombay); the sculptor and architect Cornelis de Vriendt (by Jules Pecher); the Brussels' patriot Henri de Brederode (by Antoine-Joseph Van Rasbourgh); the architect Louis van Bodeghem (by Jean Cuypers); and William the Silent, Prince of Orange (by Charles Van der Stappen) (fig. …