International conference on

STUCCO AND PLASTER SCULPTURE IN EUROPE IN THE 17TH CENTURY : INSPIRATION,
CREATION, PRODUCTION, REPRODUCTION

with the inauguration of the exhibition

POMP AND PROPAGANDA : THE STUCCO DECORATION AT MODAVE AND ITS ENGRAVED
MODELS

followed by a study day on

STUCCO AND DECORATION IN PRIVATE 18TH-CENTURY LIÈGE REGION COUNTRY HOUSES

organised by the Musée du Château de Modave (Belgium) and The Low Countries
Sculpture Society

Saturday 5 March 2005

from 10 am to 10.30 am
Special opening of the village church with the Marchin mausoleum by Lucas
Faydherbe

from 10 am
Private view of the château and the exhibition

11 am
Michel Clavier, Musée du Château de Modave
Introduction

11.15 am
Baron Daniël Cardon de Lichtbuer, president of the Association royale des
Demeures historiques et Jardins de Belgique, former president of Europa
Nostra and of the Banque Bruxelles Lambert (ING Bank)
Inauguration of the exhibition

Stucco decoration at Modave and in the Spanish Netherlands in the 17th
century

11.25 am
Léon Lock, University of London
Les stucs de Jan Christiaen Hansche : aspects historiques et artistiques

11.55 am
Christine Cession, Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique, Brussels
La conservation et la restauration des stucs à Modave : une première
approche

12.25 pm
Lode De Clercq, independent architectural historian, Antwerpen
Le stuc au XVIIe siècle dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux : aspects techniques

12.45 pm Discussion

1 pm
Lunch at the château and further opportunity to visit exhibition and château

The tradition of figurative stucco in Europe in the 17th century

Moderator : Fabrice Giot, Université catholique de Louvain

2.30 pm
Laurence Labbe, independent conservator of sculpture, Paris
Le chantier de restauration des stucs de la Galerie des Glaces de Versailles

3 pm
Prof Dr Uta Schedler, Universität Osnabrück
Figurative stucco in the school of Wessobrunn : models and workshop practice

3.30 pm
Dr Eloy Koldeweij, Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, The Netherlands
Beyond the borders : from Swedish Skokloster to a desire for the future

3.50 pm Discussion

4.05 pm Pause

Plaster and stucco sculpture in Europe in the 17th century

Moderator : Myriam Serck-Dewaide, Institut royal du Patrimoine artistique,
Brussels

4.30 pm
Pier Terwen, independent art historian and conservator of sculpture, Leiden
An unexpected recovery : the early 17th-century stucco chimney piece at the
Dekema State (Leeuwarden)

5 pm
Dr Charles Avery, independent historian of sculpture, London
Stucco in Italian sculpture from Giambologna to Bernini

5.30 pm
Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Les galeries de moulages d'antiques, du château de Fontainebleau à
l'Académie royale de Paris

6 pm Concluding discussion

6.30 pm to 7.30 pm
Last opportunity of the day to visit château and exhibition

Sunday 6 March 2005

9.30 am
Visit of the château de Deulin* in two groups (French-English)

11.30 am
Visit of the château de Marchin in two groups (French-English)

1 pm
Lunch at the château de Waleffe*

2.30 pm
Visit of the château de Waleffe* in two groups (French-English)

4.30 pm
End of the study day

(* interiors listed patrimoine exceptionnel of
Wallonia)

Contents of the conference
Taking the stucco decoration by Jan Christiaen Hansche at Modave (1666-1673)
as starting point, the conference intends to discuss stucco and plaster
sculpture in different sculptural contexts in Europe during the 17th
century. It hopes to encourage thinking about the links between the uses and
traditions in these materials. Plaster and stucco were used in three
principal traditions : the decoration of walls and ceilings ; casting
sculptures, particularly antique models ; and the full-scale model, i.e. the
last preparatory stage in the production of monumental sculpture in stone,
marble, wood and bronze. Until now, these three uses have been studied
separately and in their own right, particularly in local contexts such as
stucco in architectural commissions.

Themes to be discussed will include many of the following :
- guild structures for stuccoists and sculptors
- the use of models (drawn, engraved, etc) and the importance of the third
dimension
- intenational exchanges and mobility of artists and craftsmen
- the technical specificities of the different materials
- methods of production in the 17th century
- casts in sculptors' workshops : sources of inspiration and workshop
practices
- the full-scale model, the last preparatory stage in the production of
monumental sculpture in wood, marble, stone and bronze
- workshop structures : location, dimensions, specialisation, organisation
- current conservation and restoration methods
- figurative stucco vs. geometric stucco : differences in production and in
prestige
- the types and circles of patrons
- the prestige of stucco decoration and galleries of casts of antiques
compared to other types of decoration
- the importance of stucco in the architecture of the 17th century

The château de Modave* in the former independent prince-bishopric of Liège
was partly burnt down in 1651 and 1652 by the troops of Charles IV, duc de
Lorraine. From circa 1655 to 1673, Jean-Gaspard-Ferdinand, comte de Marchin
sumptuously rebuilt and redecorated the medieval fortress. Originally from
relatively low nobility, he became the right hand of Louis II de Bourbon,
known as the Grand Condé. He married a French noblewoman of high ascent,
Marie de Balsac d'Entraygues, marquise de Clermont. He was created count by
the Holy Roman Emperor and invested Knight of the Order of the Garter by
Charles II. He would even have been offered the marshal's baton by Louis XIV
(which he supposedly refused). Eventually, however, he did not resolve his
ambiguous political situation between France and Spain: he was poisoned by
the Spanish secret service at Spa ! Far away from his military interests,
Marchin invested huge sums in the lavish decoration of his country seat,
with tapestries, stuccoes, monumental black marble chimney pieces, etc. This
took him until his death in 1673. Much to raise his social standing in the
eyes of his visitors, he hired fashionable artists to execute the
spectacular stucco decoration in the state apartment (on the theme of The
Labours of Hercules) and in the main hall (family tree), as well as the
marble mausoleum to his parents in the specially-built chapel adjoining the
village church. Today, Modave is one of the few seventeenth-century country
houses in Belgium to have survived the numerous wars of the time. It is also
arguably the finest architectural ensemble of its kind together with the now
sadly dilapidated country house of Beaulieu (near Machelen, north of
Brussels) built by a friend of Marchin, the comte Claude-Lamoral de la Tour
et Tassis (whose son later became Fürst von Thurn und Taxis). The exhibition
« Pomp and propaganda : The stucco decoration at Modave and its engraved
models », open to the public from 1 April to 29 May 2005, every day from 9
am to 6 pm (and from 7 to 31 March for groups by appointment), brings
together engravings that the exceptional stuccoist Jan Christian Hansche
used as sources of inspiration during his career from c. 1653 to 1685.
Comparing the engraved image with photographs of the stuccos (and the real
stuccos for those at Modave) will allow the visitor to understand the design
and production of important cycles of stucco decoration such as at the
châteaux of Horst, Beaulieu and Modave and the abbey of Park at Heverlee.
The Compagnie intercommunale bruxelloise des Eaux owns the 450 ha/1000 acre
nature reserve at Modave since 1899, where it sources some 20% of the
drinking water used today by more than two million consumers in Brussels and
its suburbs. It also owns the château, since 1941, and the CIBE is proud of
its important function in the conservation of national heritage and in
tourism (www.cibe.be).

Programme as at 17 January 2005. The organisers reserve the right to make
any necessary changes.

As seats are limited, they must be booked firmly and be accompanied by the
appropriate fee. Booking will be closed 72 hours before the start of the
conference.

Please book on www.lowcountriessculpture.org for credit card payments.
Alternatively, make a transfer to The Low Countries Sculpture Society's
Belgian account 979-9814912-69 (IBAN BE71 9799 8149 1269, BIC ARSPBE22).
Please make sure that we receive your payment cleared of all bank charges

The conference on 5 March (coffee, lunch and tea included) at 30,- euro p.p.
/ 20,- euro per full-time student (please send a copy of your student ID)

The study day on 6 March (entrance fees, 3-course lunch and drinks included)
at 48,- euro p.p.

Travel tips : Brussels-N4-Modave : 105 km, 1 hour 15 min. Take E411 to
Namur. Beyond Namur (exit 18, Courrière) change to dual carriage way N4 to
Marche and Arlon. At the exit « Liège, Dinant, Hamois, Havelange » change to
the N97 in the direction of Hamois and Havelange. Continue straight on for
11 km, through Hamois and Havelange. At Havelange the road is renamed N636.
Still continue straight on. After 5 km you reach Pont-de-Bonne where you
take a right turn up the hill towards Modave. After 2 km the first drive of
the château is on your right. However, for the village church you continue
for a few hundred meters straight on, before taking left towards the
village. (At this same point the second drive to the château is on your
right.) The church is in the middle of the village.

Liège-Modave: 38 km, 30 min. Take the N63 to Marche-en-Famenne. Exit after
Terwagne onto the N641. Take a right towards Modave. The château will be on
the left of the road at the end of a long drive; but the village church is
in the middle of the village on the right of the road.

Nearest train station : Huy (13 km). Trains from Brussels, Namur and Liège
generally every hour. www.b-rail.be

Accommodation tips. A limited number of rooms has been booked at nearby
hotels for the night of Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 March 2005. To benefit from
the booking, please transfer the reservation of a room to your name. All the
bookings that are not transferred will be cancelled on 15 February 2005.

Contact details
The Low Countries Sculpture Society, POBox 1304,
B-1000 Brussels 1, tel 0032.472.501894,
info@lowcountriessculpture.org,
www.lowcountriessculpture.org
Le Musée du Château de Modave, B-4577 Modave, tel
0032.85.411369, fax 0032.85.412676, info@modave-
castle.be, www.modave-castle.be