Statues - Hither & Thither |
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Tervuren
(Tervuren) Vlaams-Brabant Paleizenlaan
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Jean Ernest Boutellier
Maurice Denonvilliers (Paris) 1897 |
In 1897, Brussels hosted the World Expo, which took place in the buildings of the Cinquantenaire Arch. King Leopold II took advantage of the organization of the exhibition to construct the Palace of the Colonies in Tervuren Park in order to expose the main import and export products of Congo, next to ethnographic objects and stuffed animals. This became the basis for the present Museum of Central Africa, which main building is built 1904-1910, east of the Colonial Palace.
For the design of gardens King Leopold II commissioned the French landscape architect Élie Lainé, who opted for a somewhat austere but harmonious design with lawns and walks, decorated here and there with cast-iron statues cast on pedestals.
The exhibition center was decorated with a fountain, eight ornamental vases, two deer and a number of sculptures that were provided by Maurice Denonvilliers, artistic director of the Comptoir Général des Fontes, d’Art de Bâtiment et de Fumisterie in Paris. It is assumed that twenty sculptures were ordered, seven of which were taken back by the artists after the show, one has disappered. The twelve remaining sculptures are cast iron, with the exception of the bronze statue of Verginius and copy of fighting stags also in bronze. These statues are in a state that deserves serious restoration.
The sculptures are (we photographed only the ones around the Colonial Palace - Click here for a interactive map with the locations of the sculptures).
Near the Royal Museum for Central-Africa
Bordering the two stairs to the Colonial Palace, there are also four cast sphinxes by an unknown artist and founder.
Source:
E-monumen.net, Ensemble de statues - parc - Tervueren.
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