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These architectural elements originate from mosques in the villages of the Swat-region in Northwest Pakistan. Between 1956 and 1981 a team of Italian archaeologists studied about 75 mosques decorated with wood carvings. This patrimony was endangered: old mosques were being replaced by modern, more practical ones at a high rate. The museum bought these elementes from an antiquarian in the nineties.

Wooden architectural elements from a mosque, Swat-region (Northwest of Pakistan), 17th-20th century, pine, mulberry and cedar.

Based on oral traditions the team was able to deduce a presumed age for each mosque of no older than two to three centuries. The entrance to the prayer room with its lobbed arch reminds of the Mughal style dating back to the 17th century and is presumably the oldest part in this setup.

This woodwork was reworked and rebuild throughout the years: several different types of connections are still visible: pen-and-hole connections, metal nails with star shaped heads and even recent nails. Traces of polychromy and a layer of black resin were also found.

The sixth day of #MuseumWeek revolves around nature and the way it has inspired humans throughout time. Our current temporary exhibition about  Wolfers Frères and Horta has quite a few art nouveau and art deco objects inspired by nature. The best known might be the Dragonfly, pictured below. In this blogpost we offer you a glimpse of several rarely seen pieces from our reserves.

Art nouveau, the style first developed by Victor Horta in 1893, was heavily inspired by nature. Just like Horta, Philippe Wolfers found based a lot of his work on plants and animals. In his summer residence Les Glycines in La Hulpe, Belgium, he was surrounded by nature. Nature, and in particular insects, was a prime and direct source of inspiration for the jewellery he made between 1902 and 1905.

A glimpse in our reserves:

Some of these jewels, like the Dragonfly, are on show in our temporary exhibition. In this blogpost we would like to show you some pieces from the Wolfers collection that are not on show at the museum. All of these drawings were made by Philippe Wolfers.

The third day of Museum Week is all about heritage. We are the proud keepers of a lot of Belgian archeological heritage. We’re happy to offer you a glimpse of the vast collections of prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian material we have on display.

Our unique Merovingian and Frankish collection holds numerous objects from graves that were excavated at the end of the 19th century or in the first half of the 20th century. Most objects originate from Belgium and illustrate funerary culture, clothing, connectivity and Christianisation in the Early Mediaeval period. From an archaeological point of view this is one of the most extensive Merovingian collections from Europe.

Grave gifts reflect the status the deceased had in society, depending on the quantity, quality and the used materials (gold, silver, bronze, glass, precious stone...).  Weapons for the men, jewellery for the women and ceramics, combs and knives for both. On top of that, these objects show a connectivity with regions throughout and beyond Europe.

Merovingians

Written sources mention the Franks for the first time in the second half of the third century. They are a federation of several Germanic peoples rather than one nation. They offered military services to the Roman empire and are thus able to establish small kingdoms. A Salian dynasty, whose intial territory lay mostly in today’s Belgium, emerges from these kingdoms: the Merovingians.

The best known Merovingian king is Clovis (481-511 AD), both for his conversion to christianity and for his unification of the Frankish kingdom. He and his successors brought the areas of the Thuringians, The Alemanni and The Burgundians under Frankish rule.

Marilles brooch

The third day of Museum Week is all about heritage. We are the proud keepers of a lot of Belgian archeological heritage. We’re happy to offer you a glimpse of the vast collections of prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian material we have on display.

After Julius Caeser conquers Gaul, Belgium becomes part of the Roman Empire. This results in a specific, interesting mix between cultures: the Gallo-Roman culture.

Our museum houses a large and unique collections of Gallo-Roman objects, most of them belonging to the elite. Lots of these objects were found in tumuli (graves). Tableware, toiletries in glass and metal, jewelry and other objects in precious metals... they were all found in the final resting places of the Gallo-Roman elite. This is also the reason why we have so many (almost) intact pieces: the graves protected not only the deceased, but also the gifts he or she took with them.

Gallic golden coins

Another important collection: coins. Our museum houses several coin treasures, both Roman and Celtic. Together with molds uses by counterfeiters they remind us of the importance, the use, the evolution and the instability of the monetary system introduces in our region by the Romans.

From the 23rd of June up until the 30th of September four exceptional Benediction veils in Brussels lace will be on show in the Fashion and Lace Museum in Brussels. Three of those four veils are on loan from the collection of the Art & History Museum.

These blessing veils or benediction veils are relatively rare: only about 15 exeamples are known in te world. Dating from 1700 to 1750, they all have similar dimensions, are of very high quality, they all tell a story using similar iconography. None of these veils show signs of wear which implies they were not very often used.

How, where and when these veils were used is still subject to debate.

Our Lady of Sorrow, circa 1700

The central composition of this veil is Our Lady of Sorrows. The Virgin Mary is depicted seated, at the centre of the image, her heart pierced with seven swords. These symbolise the seven sorrows of Mary during her life: 

1. Simeon, who took Jesus in his arms in the Temple and said, “and a sword will pierce your own soul, too...”, in reference to the pain and death of Jesus. 

2. The flight into Egypt because King Herod wanted to kill Jesus. 

3. Jesus could not be found but he was in the Temple in Jerusalem with the doctors of the law. 

4. Mary who met Jesus carrying his cross on his way to crucifixion.

5. Mary crying before her crucified son, the Stabat Mater. 

6. Mary holding her dead son in her lap, the Pietà or Mater dolorosa. 

7. The burial of Jesus.

Since the Middle Ages, the commemoration of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows has formed part of the liturgical calendar and is a religious celebration. In the old Low Countries, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows was a subject of great devotion and many churches and chapels are dedicated to her.

At Mary’s feet,  the nails from Christ’s cross, the crown of thorns and the I.N.R.I. plaque can be clearly seen.

Around the medallion framing Mary, four angels carry the instruments of the Passion. The angel on the top left carries the ladder and the tunic of Jesus. The angel on the top right carries the scourging pillar on which is placed the cockerel, which evokes the Peter’s denial. In his left hand, this angel also holds the whip and the sword.

The angel at the bottom left holds a lance, sponge and lamp. The angel at the bottom right carries the Holy Cross

Saint Begga, 1725-1730

In the upper corners, angels blow trumpets in honour of the Virgin with Child. Mary wears a magnificent dress and crown and holds a sceptre in her hand. Seated on her left, Jesus shows her the terrestrial globe. He is depicted as the Salvator Mundi – the saviour of the world!

In a small Baroque temple, several characters are grouped together. On the left and right of the roof of this small temple, we can see two angels who accompany the major event which is taking place with drum rolls. 

In his function as the father of sovereigns and kings, a seated Pope, wearing a tiara on his head, holds out a document to a richly dressed woman kneeling before him. This lady is accompanied by another lady who carries a cushion on which a crown is laid. A page with a feather headdress – an allegory of the American continent - carries the train of the lady who is kneeling. To the left of the Pope, a cardinal and a bishop carry the papal cross as a symbol of heavenly, terrestrial and ecclesiastical authority.

The rich lady is probably a depiction of Saint Begga of Andenne (620-693), the patron saint of all Beguines. Although she is predominantly recognised as the founder of the Beguinages, there is no historical certainty about this. 

However, she was worshipped as such, especially from the 17th Century onwards, and many images and depictions of her appeared at this time. The document that the Pope is holding out to her is the founding charter of the order of the Beguines.

The Invention of the Holy Cross, 1720

The stylised butterflies in the top left and right corners symbolise the joy and lightness of Christ. In the middle, at the top, a crowned cross is held by two angels playing the trumpet. A rosary is wound around the arms of the cross and a date can be seen at the bottom: 1720. 

The Rosary evokes the life, suffering and resurrection of Christ. This is precisely also the theme here. The central scene shows Saint Helena (248-329) who found the Cross of Christ. After converting to Christianity, in the same way as her son, the Emperor Constantine, Helena went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During her search for Holy Places, Helena is said to have found the Cross of Christ, the nails from the Cross, the lance, the sponge, the INRI plaque and even the relics of the Magi. 

Here, she is depicted kneeling in the same way as an empress with the Cross held tightly under her left arm. Objects from the passion can be seen to her left. Three pages dressed in an Oriental style stand behind her. These exotic figures and the palm tree are a reference to the Holy Land. The episode is said to have taken place in Jerusalem, which is why the Dome of the Rock is also integrated into the scene. 

The man wearing secular clothing and holding a spade in his hand may be a reference to the Emperor Constantine, Helena’s son. He is wearing a sort of sash around his body and holds a hat/or crown in his hand. Another interpretation is that this man depicts the merchant or donor who paid for the lace.

The third day of Museum Week is all about heritage. We are the proud keepers of a lot of Belgian archeological heritage. We’re happy to offer you a glimpse of the vast collections of Prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian material we have on display.

Our collection National Prehistory is the biggest of its kind in Belgium. Starting almost half a million years ago right up to the Celtic period: the Belgian soil (and our museum) offers an extraordinary insight in the lives of our ancestors.

Stone Age

The silex artefacts gathered in our museum show how hunter-gatherers and the first farmers used and shaped their environment to their advantage.

The silex mines of Spiennes, Hainaut, were named UNESCO world heritage back in 2002. In the region around Mons silex was dug up in large quantities between 4250 BC until 3500 BC. The gains of this almost industrial style of mining were mostly ment for export.

The mining techniques used were rather advanced and were developed around 6000 years ago. Huge chunks of silex were dug up from up to 18 meters of depth using a complex system of holes and shafts.

Mining silex was a dangerous venture. Miners cut and carved the silex from the ceilings of horizontal shafts. This way the ceiling of the shaft collapsed onto bench like shapes who were carved out on the bottom of the shaft. As a result large pieces of silex were broken into smaller, more manageable parts.

Those smaller parts were then hauled up to the surface where they were processed into half finished products, ready for export.

Metal Age

The transition from stone age to metal age in Belgium (and the wider region) starts around 2000 BC.

One of the masterpieces from this period is strip of thin gold leaf, originally used to decorate a drinking horn. The decorations show mediterranean motifs: lotus flowers and palmettes.

It was found by accident in Eigenbilzen in 1871, in a rich celtic grave dating back to 400 BC. The strip of gold leaf, together with the other high quality objects in the grave, show the high status of the person buried there.