- Jean-Baptiste de Bethune
Infobox Architect
name=Jean-Baptiste Charles FrançoisBaron de Bethune
nationality=Belgian,
birth_date=25 April 1821
birth_place=Kortrijk ,Belgium
death_date=18 June 1894
death_place=Marke ,Belgium
practice_name=
significant_buildings=Castle of Loppem (in collaboration withE.W. Pugin )Maredsous Abbey
significant_projects=
awards=Jean-Baptiste de Bethune (or: Jean-Baptiste Bethune) was a
Belgian architect, artisan and designer who played a pivotal role in the Belgian and CatholicGothic Revival movement. He was called by some the ""Pugin ofBelgium " [W [illiam] H [enry] J [ames] Weale, in: "Building News", XXXVI, 1879, p. 350] .Life
He was born in
Kortrijk in 1821 in a wealthyFlemish family of French origin. He and his relatives were ferventCatholics , and most were active in politics and civil service. The family which was originally called "Bethune" was granted nobility by the Belgian King and as a result added the preposition "de" to underline their new noble status. de Bethune first studied law at theKatholieke Universiteit Leuven and later embarked on a career in politics civil service at the provincial council ofWest-Vlaanderen inBruges . He received his basic artistic training at the "Academie voor Schone Kunsten" in Kortrijk (his teachers were L. Verhaegen and Jules Victor Génisson). Paul Lauters introduced him to landscape painting while the sculptor C. H. Geerts (1807–1855) - himself a pioneer of theGothic Revival style - made him familiar with sculpture. In 1842-1843 and in 1850 he visited England and metAugustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) the advocate of theGothic Revival in England and an enthusiast Catholic as well.The encounter with Pugin and his creations further stimulated Bethune's interest in architecture and applied arts. In imitation of Pugin and his followers, Bethune developed the idea that an artistic revival of the arts of the "Christian" world of the
Middle-Ages could inspire a new profoundly Christian/Catholic society. At home Bethune was encouraged by canon C. Carton to become involved in the creation of genuinely ‘Christian Art’. Gradually he began to make designs himself. In 1854 he even set up his own stained-glass workshop, advised by J. Hardman (1812–67), Pugin’s stained-glass manufacturer.In 1862 he was a co-founder of the Saint-Luke schools. These schools were opened as a catholic counterpart to the official Academies and trained architects in the religious spirit of the Gothic tradition. The first permanent Saint-Luke school opened in
Ghent in 1863. These schools also offered an education for artisans that could work with stained glass, wood carving, painting, gold- and silverwork... The aim was to train craftsmen that could cope with the overall decoration of a newly build, fully decorated, Gothic church. As a teacher and as a patron of the archaeological society of the "Gilde de Saint-Thomas et de Saint-Luc" founded in 1863, Bethune had a decisive influence on the evolution of theGothic Revival style in Belgium. Among those he taught or influenced were the architectsJoris Helleputte andLouis Cloquet . Abroad, he maintained contacts and was appreciated by contemporaries such asPierre Cuypers ,Edward Welby Pugin ,August Reichensperger andEdward von Steinle .Work
In his architectural creations de Bethune adopted the formal vocabulary of the typical late medieval brick architecture of
Flanders , and specificallyBruges . Trough his influence and teaching he introduced this stance by many of his followers.This, together with his strong Catholic inspiration and his association with theGothic Revival movement in England, marks the difference between his school and theNeo-Gothic architecture advocated in Belgium by the Academies and the followers ofViollet-le-Duc . The latter school was more interested in restorations, while their new creations were mostly inspired by the French and BrabanticGothic architecture . In general their creations were more inspired by a civil romanticism and lacked the religious and social idealism of Bethune and his Saint-Luke schools.Apart from architectural projects his very extensive oeuvre includes designs for practically all the plastic and decorative arts. From Belgium his designs found their way to most other European countries. The quality of his work can best be judged from his integrated building projects, which combine all forms of art, such as the
Castle of Loppem , the complex in Vivenkapelle (including a church, a presbytery and a convent school) and the large complex of theMaredsous Abbey . Bethune’s designs show a strong architectural, archaeological and didactic character. With his stained-glass windows (f.e. in the cathedrals ofBruges ,Ghent ,Antwerp , andTournai ), his mural paintings, (f.e. in the castle of Maaltebrugge, 1862–1864), and his mosaics (Aachen Cathedral 1872) he contributed significantly to the revival of these art forms. Among his most important realisations as a designer of gold- and silverwork are the "Belgian Tiara" offered to popePius IX in 1871, the Charles-the-Good Shrine in St. Salvator’s Cathedral inBruges (1883), theSaint Lambert Shrine in the St. Paul’s Cathedral inLiège (1884).List of Works
a selection:
Architecture
All architectural projects include the designs for decoration and furnishings.
*
Castle of Loppem , 1859-1862.
* Church, presbytery and schools inVivenkapelle nearDamme , 1860-1870.
*Maredsous Abbey , 1872-1889.
* Church Sacré Coeur of "Le Trieu" in Courrière, 1872-1873.
* Church of thebeguinage ofSint-Amandsberg nearGhent , 1874.
* Chapel of Our Lady at the Jesuit Convent 'Oude Abdij" inDrongen , 1877.
* Convent of the "Clarisses de l'Epeule" inRoubaix ,France
* Ecole de Saint-Luc (Saint-Luke school) inTournai
* Church Saint-Joseph inRoubaix ,France
* Church ofFontenoy Designs for applied arts
* Design for the "Belgian Tiara" donated to
Pope Pius IX in 1871.
* Design for themosaic decoration of the dome ofAachen Cathedral . (executed by the workshop ofAntonio Salviati 1879-1881.
* Funeral monument of Monseigneur Gravez, bishop of Namur, in Namur
* Funeral monument of the Lefèvre family inSclayn
* Design for a Shrine to contain the relics ofCharles I, Count of Flanders , inBruges Cathedral, 1883-1885
* Design for the Shrine ofSaint Lambert in the Cathedral ofLiège , 1884.
* Church of Dinant: Main altar and other religious furniture.
* Interior decoration in the Castles of, Denée,Gesves andSpontin References
Bibliography
*Jules HELBIG, "Le Baron Bethune, fondateur des Écoles Saint-Luc. Étude biographique", Lille-Bruges, 1906.
*Luc DEVLIEGHER, ‘Bethune, Jean de’, in: "Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek", 1, Brussels, 1964, col. 188–191.
*J. UYTTERHOEVEN, ‘Baron Jean-Baptiste de Bethune en de neogotiek’, in: "Handelingen van de Koninklijke Geschied- en Oudheidkundige Kring van Kortrijk", 34, 1965, p. 3–101.
*D. SABBE, ‘J.B. Bethune, promotor van de neogotische beweging’, in: "Handelingen van de Koninklijke Geschied- en Oudheidkundige Kring van Kortrijk", 68, 1979, p. 267–355.
*Jan DE MAEYER (ed.), "De Sint-Lucasscholen en de neogotiek", (Kadoc-Studies, 5), Louvain, 1988.
*Véronique VAN CALOEN, Jean VAN CLEVEN & Johan BRAET (ed.), "Le château de Loppem", Zedelgem, 2001.
*Jean VAN CLEVEN, Frieda VAN TYGHEM et al., "De Neogotiek in België", Tielt, 1994.
*Jos VANDENBREEDEN & Françoise DIERKENS-AUBRY, "The 19th Century in Belgium. Architecture and Interiors", Tielt, 1994.
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