Treasures of St Peter's Church: the Sedes Sapientiae and its crown jewels
Nicolaas De Bruyne en onbekende edelsmeden, ‘Sedes Sapientiae’ met de oudste kroon en scepter, 1442-19de eeuw, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
TREASURES OF ST PETER'S CHURCH
The Sedes Sapientiae and its crown jewels
The 15th-century Sedes Sapientiae is one of the show pieces of St Peter's Church. A Sedes Sapientiae (Latin for 'seat of wisdom') is a stern, emotionless depiction of Mary seated on a throne with the child Jesus on her lap. It was the most common way of depicting Mary from the 8th to the 13th century.
Nicolaas De Bruyne en onbekende edelsmeden, ‘Sedes Sapientiae’ met de oudste kroon en scepter, 1442-19de eeuw, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
1442
Leuven city council commissions the Sedes Sapientiae from Nicolaas de Bruyne of Brussels. The latter based its creation on an older, Romanesque example. The city council donates the statue to St Peter's Church. In 1662, it was given a place there in the marble Baroque altar by the Mechelen sculptor Lucas Faydherbe.
F. Deboe (?), ‘Autaer van het Miraculeus Belt van Onse Lieve Vrouwe in S. Peeters Kercke tot Loven in Brabant’, in: M.G. van der Buecken, Wonderen bystandt(…), 1757, M Leuven, foto: M Leuven
1630-1650
An unknown Leuven silversmith makes a new sceptre in gilt silver for the Sedes Sapientiae. The sceptre is marked with the city marks of Leuven (a key and the crowned city coat of arms) and a heavily worn year-marking (a crowned M or N; these year-markings indicate the year in which the object was hallmarked), which means we can now date it fairly precisely.
Onbekend, ‘Scepter van de Sedes Sapientiae’, ca. 1630-1655, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
Onbekend, ‘Scepter van de Sedes Sapientiae’, ca. 1630-1655, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
1842-1844
Having been hidden under lavish robes for at least a century and a half – with parts of the throne having been sawed off so it would fit! – the sculpture is now undergoing a thorough restoration. This is done in the workshops of Leuven sculptor Egide Goyers sr. and sons. They restore gilding and brilliant polychrome. They also make a new, neo-Gothic processional canopy.
Alexandre Joos, ‘Sedes Sapientiae’, ca. 1850, M Leuven, foto: M Leuven
1918
The Sedes Sapientiae also included an impressive pair of crowns decorated with roses and lilies, one for Mary and one for Jesus. They may have disappeared shortly after World War I, but we do not know in what circumstances. The Jesus crown has since disappeared without a trace, but the Mary crown years later ended up in the United States via Belgian art dealers Joseph and Lucien Demotte. Unfortunately, we do not know who they bought the crown from.
De oude kronen van de Sedes Sapientiae met toegevoegde juwelen als votiefgeschenken, in: W.H.J. Weale, Instrumenta Ecclesiastica (…), Brussel, 1866, pl. 41, foto: KU Leuven
1927
On the occasion of KU Leuven's five-hundredth anniversary two years earlier, the Sedes Sapientiae was given a new pair of crowns and two large gem-encrusted necklaces – a donation from the university – at a solemn ceremony on 29 June 1927.
Nicolaas De Bruyne en Devroye Frères, ‘Sedes Sapientiae’ met de naoorlogse kronen en scepter, 1442/1946, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
1928
The historic Marian crown is on display at the exhibition 'French Gothic Art of the Thirteenth to Fifteenth Century' at the Detroit Institute of Art. We now know that the crown is not French, and in fact of more recent manufacture.
Onbekend, ‘Kroon van de Sedes Sapientiae’, 19de eeuw of vroeger?, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
1934
New York art dealer and collector Joseph Brummer buys Demotte's Marian crown for USD 1,000. She is given a place in the 'Gothic Room' in his own gallery.
1944
On the night of 11-12 May, the north transept of St Peter's Church was destroyed by Allied bombardment. The Sedes is also heavily damaged. The crowns and silver accessories from 1927 are irretrievably lost.
‘Gothic Room’ in de Brummer Gallery, New York, 1948, The Brummer Gallery Records, foto: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Library and Archive, New York (CC0)
1945
The preserved fragments of the Sedes Sapientiae are carefully reconstructed and restored by Jozef Van Uytvanck. That Leuven sculptor incidentally also designed the new lid for the bronze baptismal font in St Peter's, which was cast by the Brussels firm Devroye Frères in 1954.
1946
Devroye Frères makes two new crowns and a sceptre in a neo-byzantine style. They are in gold-plated silver, decorated with filigree work and set with amethysts, green opals and turquoises, among others. The new crown jewels were paid for with gifts from the parishioners of St Peter's Church on the occasion of Dean Jan-Baptist Bauts' silver jubilee.
Devroye Frères, ‘Kronen en scepter van de Sedes Sapientiae’, 1946, Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
1949
The old Maria crown in then auctioned in New York on 8 June 1949. At the behest of Honoré Van Waeyenbergh, rector magnificus of KU Leuven, Belgian diplomat Jan-Albert Goris (better known as the writer Marnix Gijsen) manages to snap them up for USD 550. The crown returns to St Peter's Church. It is no coincidence that it was KU Leuven that came with the winning bid. The Sedes Sapientiae is considered the patron of the university and has been depicted on the university seal since 1909.
2020
The Sedes returns to its original place in the north transept of St Peter's Church. The 17th-century Leuven sceptre and the great Marian crown can now be admired in the church's silver showcases. They are part of 'Between Heaven and Earth - Experience The Last Supper by Bouts', M's permanent collection presentation.
Nicolaas De Bruyne en onbekende edelsmeden, ‘Sedes Sapientiae’ met de oudste kroon en scepter, 1442-19de eeuw, M Leuven / Sint-Pieterskerk, foto: artinflanders.be, Dominique Provost
Monograph ‘De Sint-Pieterskerk te Leuven: Geschiedenis, Architectuur en Patrimonium’
In the past, the eventful history of historic crowns has been the subject of much speculation. In a new investigation into the silverware at St Peter's, Ko Goubert, collection registrar at M, has listed all the facts. This richly illustrated publication (€75) is available at Barbóék in M and at the reception of St Peter's Church.
Monografie ‘De Sint-Pieterskerk te Leuven: Geschiedenis, Architectuur en Patrimonium’ © Peeters Publishers
