The Church of Our Lady in Bruges

From the outside, this church seemed to be just another gothic church, but on the inside, it was spectacular. The mere enormity of the structure was mind boggling from the inside; it is a true architectural masterpiece. The first thing I noticed when I tiptoed inside was the massive alter with Jesus Christ on the Crucifix. it was graphic and detailed and evoked a sense of sadness within the onlookers.

From there I meandered about the rest of the church looking at some historical Catholic antiques, there were pairs of shoes that previous Popes had worn, a tabernacle that probably weighed 250 pounds and was made out of pure gold decorated with various gemstones from all across the world. These items were hidden behind a sort of gates that made it difficult to see unless you were tall. The fact that the church had decided to restrict the public from this territory made it obvious that these items were of great importance even if you did not know exactly what they were or what they were used for. There were some areas of the church where you could go sit in a nook of stained glass windows and kneel down to say a few prayers; it was very peaceful due to the strict “silence” policy that this church upholds.

Once we got all the way around, we realized that we had forgotten our main goal of coming to this church in the first place. The Church of Our Lady is the home of the “Madonna and Child” by Michelangelo. This statue transcends its own beauty through its own history; it was made by one of the most famous artists of all time and is more than 500 years old. The marble was still incredibly intact and was awe-inspiring. I was there when there was only one other person outside of our group, and they quickly moved along so we could take pictures and study this masterpiece. This piece embodied maternity and showed something that almost anyone can relate to. To me this piece of course was about the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, but it also symbolized a bond that I took as symbolic of the church, I thought it showed that the Catholic Church really is committed to its followers just as the Virgin Mary is committed to her son, Jesus Christ. The looseness of Mary’s grip on the child is symbolic that the Church is letting its believers go out into the world, but that it is still holding onto us in everything we take part in.

One thing that struck me as very odd was the fact that this sculpture is not behind glass or any protection at all. Almost every famous piece of art is protected in some way and this one was closed off by one velvet rope that easily could have been bypassed if one wanted to go closer. I took this openness of Church of Our Lady to mean that they trust the people of Bruges to protect this artifact and make the most of this monument that they are the proud owners of.

This is the only Michelangelo to be in Northwest Europe and I think it was worthwhile to stop and see the famous piece I had only read about in history classes.