Church of Our Lady, Bruges

The Church of Our Lady (Dutch: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk) in Bruges, Belgium, dates mainly from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.

Its tower, at 122.3 metres (401 ft) in height, remains the tallest structure in the city and the second tallest brickwork tower in the world (the tallest being the St. Martin's Church in Landshut, Germany).

In the choir space behind the high altar are the tombs of Charles the Bold, last Valois Duke of Burgundy, and his daughter, the duchess Mary. The gilded bronze effigies of both father and daughter repose at full length on polished slabs of black stone. Both are crowned, and Charles is represented in full armor and wearing the decoration of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

The altarpiece of the large chapel in the southern aisle enshrines the most celebrated art treasure of the church—a white marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Michelangelo around 1504. Probably meant originally for Siena Cathedral, it was purchased in Italy by two Brugean merchants, the brothers Jan and Alexander Mouscron, and in 1514 donated to its present home. The sculpture was twice recovered after being looted by foreign occupiers—French revolutionaries c. 1794 and Nazi Germans in 1944. Close to the Michelangelo statue important Brugeans are buried such as Françoise de Haveskercke, buried next to her husband in the black tomb of the Haveskercke family on the right side of the statue.

Gallery

Exterior

Interior

• 
  Nave

Works of art

• 
  Madonna by Michelangelo
• 
  Madonna by Michelangelo
• 
  Crucifixion by Anthony van Dyck (?)
• 
  Supper at Emmaüs, formerly ascribed to Caravaggio
• 
  Deposition of the Cross; anonymous

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Brugge).

• Bumpus, T. Francis (1909), The Cathedrals and Churches of Belgium [The Cathedral Series; 16], London: T[homas] W[erner] Laurie, pp. 138–144, OCLC 221948162 .
• Hobbs, Jerry R. (9 January 2004), A Michelangelo in Belgium? The Bruges Madonna, Information Sciences Institute, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, archived from the original on 8 June 2014 .
• [Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk] (in Dutch), Kerknet Vlaanderen, archived from the original on 14 April 2012, retrieved 14 April 2012 .

External links

• Official website of the Church of Our Lady, Bruges

Tallest buildings and structures in Belgium
Skyscrapers	Astro Tower Belgacom Towers Brusilia Finance Tower KBC Tower Madou Plaza Tower North Galaxy Towers Rogier Tower South Tower World Trade Center
Radio and TV towers	Mechelen-Zuid water tower Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Tower VRT Zendstation Egem Wavre transmitter Zendmast Ruiselede (destroyed)
Other	Atomium Brussels Justice Palace Brussels Town Hall Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp Church of Our Lady, Bruges Pont de Wandre St Martin's Cathedral, Ypres St. Rumbold's Cathedral