Jan van Delen

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.

[6] 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.

[5] Faydherbe had in 1651 obtained a commission to create a monument in the funerary chapel of Duke Lamoral of Thorn and Taxis (in the Our Blessed Lady of Zavel Church in Brussels).

[3] King Charles II of Spain, then sovereign of the Southern Netherlands, bestowed on him the title of court sculptor by letters patent dated 4 September 1675.

Van Delen made the sculptures in the meeting room, while de Vos was in charge of executing the decorations of the facade.

He worked in the Flemish Baroque style which he had mastered through his collaborations with Faydherbe, who in turn had developed it during his training in Rubens' workshop in Antwerp.

[10][11] 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.

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.

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.

[5] Another funeral monument by van Delen is the mausoleum of Charles d'Hovyne executed in 1671 (base added in 1840) for the Chapel Church in Brussels.

[12][13] 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 Our Blessed Lady of Zavel Church in Brussels).

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.