Laeken Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, is one of the major cemeteries
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
Description
The cemetery houses very fine examples of nineteenth-century funerary artFunerary art
Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. Tomb is a general term for the repository, while grave goods are objects—other than the primary human remains—which have been placed inside...
and also features an original bronze cast of Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
's Thinker, purchased in 1927 by the antiquarian and art collector Josef Dillen to use as his own memorial. Next to the entrance, there is a small museum dedicated to the sculptor Ernest Salu (1845-1923) and his successors. Many of the monuments that embellish the cemetery are products of the Salu workshop.
The adjacent Church of Our Lady of Laeken
Church of Our Lady of Laeken
The Church of Our Lady of Laeken is a neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church in Laeken, Brussels. It was originally built in memory of Queen Louise-Marie, wife of King Leopold I to the design of architect Joseph Poelaert....
is the site of the Royal Crypt of Belgium, consecrated in 1872, and the resting place of the Belgian royal family.
Notable interments
- Alphonse BalatAlphonse BalatAlphonse Hubert François Balat was a Belgian architect.He studied at the Academie of Namur and obtained his degree in architecture from the Academy of Antwerp in 1838....
, architect - Charles Auguste de Bériot, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and composer - Michel de GhelderodeMichel De GhelderodeMichel de Ghelderode was an avant-garde Belgian dramatist, writing in French.-Career:...
, writer - Louis Ghémar, photographer (1819-1873), in a tomb designed by sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-BelleuseAlbert-Ernest Carrier-BelleuseAlbert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse was a French sculptor and painter.- Life :Carrier-Belleuse was a student of David d'Angers and briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts...
- Camille JenatzyCamille JenatzyCamille Jenatzy was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier....
, race-car driver - Fernand KhnopffFernand KhnopffFernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff as a Belgian symbolist painter.- Youth and Training :...
, painter - Maria MalibranMaria MalibranThe mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...
, operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer, with a work by sculptor Guillaume GeefsGuillaume GeefsGuillaume Geefs , also Willem Geefs, was a Belgian sculptor. Although known primarily for his monumental works and public portraits of statesmen and nationalist figures, he also explored mythological subject matter, often with an erotic theme.-Life:Geefs was born at Antwerp, the eldest of six... - Joseph PoelaertJoseph PoelaertJoseph Poelaert was a Belgian architect.- Life :Born in Brussels to Philip Poelaert , a former architecture student at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Poelaert also trained there under Tilman-François Suys, and then in Paris under Louis Visconti and Jean-Nicolas Huyot.Poelaert...
, architect - Louis-Joseph SeutinLouis-Joseph SeutinLouis Joseph Seutin was a Belgian doctor, surgeon and professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles....
, surgeon - Léon SuysLéon SuysLéon-Pierre Suys was a Belgian architect.Suys's father Tilman-François Suys was the architect of King Leopold I, and the founder of the Belgian Royal Commission of Sites and Monuments, of which his friend François-Joseph Navez was also a member...
, architect