[MR] History Blog: 14th C. Painted Burial Vaults from Bruges

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Yesterday the History Blog entry described two 14th century burial vaults
which were discovered in Bruges, Belgium, and a third similar unpainted
vault. The vaults are within the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerkhof cemetery
associated with the historic Our Lady of Bruges church. The dig is salvage
archaeology before an underground pumping station is built on the site.

The two painted masonry vaults are decorated on the outside and inside with
various Christian religious symbols and scenes, including the crucifiction.
According to the blog, they were done in haste as burials had to be
completed within 24 hours. One of the commentators to the blog suggests the
vaults might have been painted before assembly, and might even have been
prepared well in advance of their occupancy. Speculative at this point, but
a good call.

The story is found at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/62282 . There
is a rotatable image at the end of the blog entry. Clicking on the small
green icon at the upper left will take you off-site to a much larger and
clearer Sketchfab image. Image is rotatable to 360 degrees, but the 3D
version mentioned was not available.

Our Lady of Bruges Church is home to Michaelangelo's famous Bruges Madonna
statue, stolen by the Nazis in WWII and one of the principal art pieces in
the recent film THE MONUMENTS MEN. The Bruges Madonna  is discussed at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_of_Bruges .

For more on this spectacular church see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady,_Bruges .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆