Church of Our Lady

The originally medieval church, which is now located in the inner city of Kortrijk, used to be part of a fortress on the estate of the Counts of Flanders. The impressive Gravenkapel (Counts’ Chapel), which abuts the church, contains medieval murals with portraits of the Counts of Flanders and a famous Gothic, alabaster statue of Saint Catherine, a Flemish masterpiece. In 1370 Count Louis of Male built the Gravenkapel as a mausoleum for himself. Yet he is buried in Lille.

This dynamic altarpiece, rich in drama and emotion, was painted by Antoon van Dyck in 1631 during his Antwerp years, when he created dozens of artworks for churches and monasteries in the Southern Netherlands. We are fortunate to have access to a lot of information about its creation because relevant correspondence has been preserved. The commission came from Canon Rogier Braye. Van Dyck's work exudes Italian inspiration. He obviously also looked to his teacher Peter Paul Rubens, but resolutely decided to go his own way here. The painting was stolen but quickly recovered in 1907.