Church of Our Lady, Bruges

In the choir space behind the high altar are the tombs of Charles the Bold, last Valois Duke of Burgundy, and that of his daughter, the duchess Mary. The gilded bronze effigies of both father and daughter repose at full length on polished slabs of black stone. Both are crowned, and Charles is represented in full armor and wearing the decoration of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The dress and ornamentation of the bronzed Mary is consistent with the Gothic style, and around the sides of the stone is a genealogy.[1] There is glass over the tomb opening so the frescoes on the walls are visible from above, with Jan Borman being the creator of the tomb.[1] The English founder of the convent at Antwerp, Mary Lovel, was buried by the high altar in 1628. She died here whilst trying to establish another convent in the city.[2]

The altarpiece of the large chapel in the southern aisle, known as the Cappella sacra created in the 18th century in the Baroque style,[1] enshrines the most celebrated art treasure of the church—a white marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Michelangelo around 1504. There is evidence of this date based on payments being made to Michelangelo by Florentine bankers Baldassare and Giovanni Balducci between 1503 and 1504.[3] The block of marble used to sculpt the Madonna weighed close to a ton so suitable locations for carving would have been limited. It is likely that Michelangelo began carving the sculpture in Carrara, as he was there for close to a year in 1505. The Madonna was completed in 1506.[3] It was probably meant originally for Siena Cathedral; however, it was purchased in Italy by two Brugean merchants, the brothers Jan and Alexander Mouscron. This was due to a monetary disagreement that led to Michelangelo having the statue brought privately to the Mouscrons in Bruges instead [4] and in 1514 it was donated to its present home. The sculpture was a memorial to the Mouscron parents, "...which would include a 'sumptuous tabernacle' that would hold an 'excellent' sculpture of the Virgin that is 'very precious' and 'costly'..." No alterations are allowed to be made to the Madonna without proper permission.[3] While Michelangelo was alive, the Madonna was the only sculpture to be taken out of Italy.[1] The sculpture was twice recovered after being looted by foreign occupiers—French revolutionaries c. 1794 and Nazi Germans in 1944. Close to the Michelangelo statue important Brugeans are buried such as Françoise de Haveskercke, buried next to her husband in the black tomb of the Haveskercke family on the right side of the statue.

• List of Gothic Cathedrals in Europe
• List of tallest structures built before the 20th century

• Bumpus, T. Francis (1909), The Cathedrals and Churches of Belgium [The Cathedral Series; 16], London: T[homas] W[erner] Laurie, pp. 138–144, ISBN 9780300014129, OCLC 221948162.
• Hobbs, Jerry R. (9 January 2004), A Michelangelo in Belgium? The Bruges Madonna, Information Sciences Institute, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, archived from the original on 8 June 2014.
• [Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk] (in Dutch), Kerknet Vlaanderen, archived from the original on 14 April 2012, retrieved 14 April 2012.

• Media related to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Brugge) at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website of the Church of Our Lady, Bruges