Surprising medieval influences in 19th-century sculpture

"You always hear the same things about sculpture at the end of the 19th century: the influence of Michelangelo, artists distancing themselves from academism… Not a word about the influence of medieval art."

"In 2014, we gave a short presentation here about a plaster model of ‘The Fire-Damp Explosion’, a masterpiece by Meunier in our collection. Many people who saw the statue immediately said: that is a modern pieta. Technically, it is actually an entombment, but these comments got us thinking anyway."

"We started exploring Meunier’s work in more detail, and we immediately started seeing parallels. ‘Fertility’ is a one-to-one match for the Maria lactans – Mary breastfeeding the infant Jesus. ‘The Resting Puddler’ is a one-to-one match for Christ on the Cold Stone. It was so striking that it seemed very strange that nobody had drawn attention to it before."

Essay Exhibition

"So we started developing the project but we soon realized that an exhibition about the medieval influences on Meunier would be a little meagre. Including his contemporaries Rodin and Minne seemed quite logical, since they knew one another. Furthermore, all three of them had a clear link with the Middle Ages. Meunier had been a painter for the first thirty years of his career, and he was specialized in bourgeois and neogothic pieces. Christianity and medieval themes occupy an important place in the symbolism of Minne’s works. And Rodin wrote a book about the cathedrals of France. All the information was sitting there, we just had to bring all the different elements together."

"I consider ‘Rodin, Meunier & Minne’ to be an essay exhibition. We want to open up a new field of research: how did the Middle Ages influence the sculptors of the late 19th century? It is not illogical for M to address this question. We have a small but excellent Meunier collection and we have been developing our expertise in medieval sculpture since 2013."

Lonely Burial

"The exhibition presents groups of sculptures. For example, we have brought together ‘The Thinker’ by Rodin, ‘The Resting Puddler’ by Meunier, ‘Mother with Dead Child’ by Minne and a medieval ‘Christ on the Cold Stone’. And then it’s up to you: look and compare."

"It soon became clear that the themes of these sculptures were all on the melancholy side. We decided not to cover that up in any way. That is why the audio guide was made in cooperation with the people from De eenzame uitvaart – a group of writers who compose poetry for the deceased who would otherwise be buries alone, without family or friends."

"They have written a tour with poetry based on the artworks, and mourning is the central theme. There will be separate versions for adults and children. I find this an exceptionally beautiful idea. It enhances the emotional power of the works: sadness, grief, loss… Feelings that are familiar to us all. We emphasize that in the audio guide, rather than stylistic movements or art history. This reimburses the sculptures with their true humanity, as it were."