Jan van Delen

Jan van Delen (1635/1636 in Brussels – 12 March 1703 in Brussels) was a Flemish sculptor who is mainly known for his Baroque church sculptures, allegorical scenes, funeral monuments and portraits. He was principally active in Brussels where he popularized the Flemish Baroque style in sculpture.

Life Details about his life are scarce. In a document in the Brussels city archives dated 19 June 1664, van Delen is reported declaring that his father had been a falconer in the service of the governors of the Spanish Netherlands for more than 25 years, he had from a young age and already for about 20 years practised the art of sculpting in Brussels, the Dutch Republic, Germany and, for the longest period, in Italy as well as in other places. The document also states that Jan van Delen was born in Brussels as the son of Hendrick. The document thus proves that he was born in Brussels. The time of his birth is not entirely clear but was likely in the middle of the 1630s, assuming he commenced his apprenticeship when he was around 10 years of age.

Art historians have speculated in the past that van Delen was the pupil of Lucas Faydherbe, a prominent sculptor and architect from Mechelen who had trained in Rubens' workshop and also worked on commissions in Brussels. On 24 June 1666 he married in the St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen Anna Barbara Faydherbe, the daughter of Lucas Faydherbe. The couple established their home in the Saint Gaugericus parish of Brussels. Van Delen contributed two marble statues, one of which represents Charity. The epitaph for Jacques d’Ennetières which is in the upper part of the monument is documented through a contract including a modello dated 27 April 1675. At the centre of this epitaph is a marble slab with a funerary inscription surrounded by a molded gilded wooden frame, with eight arms of noble families. Two allegorical figures flank the marble slab: Vigilance and the Prudence, which are rendered in an idealized form. Vigilance, on the left, holds a palm in her hands and at her feet stands a rooster. On the right is Prudence who originally held a mirror in her left hand, which has now disappeared. At the top of the structure stands the bust of Jacques d’Ennetières inside a niche. He is represented with a worried look, wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, a sunken nose and wavy medium-length hair falling on his shoulders. The memorial of his son Philippe-François d'Ennetières, executed in 1690, carries van Delen's signature on the left-side of the base of the sarcophagus. It is in the form of a triumphal arch delimited on the sides by large pilasters. In the center of the structure, the epitaph of the deceased in white marble is framed by black marble and a series of sixteen coats of arms. The inscription is surmounted by a pediment itself topped by the coat of arms of sarcophagusthe deceased and his wife, Marie Obert. The whole is supported by two dogs. Below the epitaph, a bust of Philippe-François d'Ennetières is sculpted in bass-relief, inserted in a medallion created by a gilded wooden frame decorated with laurel leaves. He is represented turned three quarters to the right and wearing a wig with curls falling down his shoulders and a shirt with an openwork lace jabot and a coat. The upper part of the medallion is covered with a white double-foiled sheet supported by two angels.

Van Delen collaborated from about 1673 to 1678 on the decorative project for the funerary chapel of Duke Lamoral of Thorn and Taxis (in the Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon in Brussels). This decorative project was initially under the direction of his father-in-law Faydherbe. He created two allegorical figures representing Charity (Caritas) and Truth (Veritas), which were placed in niches in the chapel with two other allegorical sculptures of Hope and Faith executed by Gabriël Grupello. The Charity and Faith (Fides) sculptures were stolen at the end of the 18th century during one of the occupations of the Southern Netherlands by the French. Charity was rediscovered in a French private collection two centuries later and returned to Belgium after a sale at Christie's in 2012. The statue group shows charity personified by a seated young woman who has one putto on her lap and is looking at another putto who stands in front of her while raising an arm. The figures are united through there movements and express the selflessness of motherly love. The partially uncovered breast of the woman refers to the gift of the mother milk, the source of life for the next generation. The representation closely resembles the religious representations of the Virgo lactans in which the Virgin Mary is shown breastfeeding the infant Jesus. The bunch of grapes in the hands of one of the putti symbolizes the blood of Christ, which according to the Catholic faith was shed to save humanity from sin. The statue group of Truth (Veritas) by van Delen is placed in the niche of the lost statue group of Faith (Fides).