Chapels of thanksgiving in Bertrix

Bertrix is a small town in the Ardennes, in southern Belgium, near the border with France. Somewhat overlooked, it lies between the tourist attractions – Bouillon, with its grand castle built by the famous crusader Godfrey, and Bastogne, home to the large, modern War Museum commemorating the bloody Battle of the Ardennes, one of the last major battles of the Second World War. This German counter-offensive was intended to delay the Allies’ advance, but it resulted in heavy losses for both sides and caused considerable destruction in Wallonia.

Bertrix miraculously survived, a fact that the local priest and art historian, Canon André Lanotte (1914–2010), decided to commemorate. At the time, he was responsible for overseeing post-war restoration work on religious buildings in the region; here, however, he demonstrated the vision of a patron – and a patron of modern art at that – in which he was assisted by Father Courtoy. By the end of the 1950s, four votive chapels dedicated to the Virgin Mary had been erected at four locations on the outskirts of the village. They were designed by Walloon architects.

The Notre-Dame-de la Foi Chapel – architecture and interior design

The first of these, Notre-Dame-de la Foi, in the north of the town, was built in 1949 based on a concept by Roger Bastin (1913–1986) and Jacques Dupuis (1914–1984). They were to take their inspiration from old rural washhouses – open-plan buildings where fabrics were washed in a stone trough under the roof. However, Belgian publications on the subject mention deeper inspirations drawn from contemporary Scandinavian architecture and… the Polish pavilion at the 1937 Paris Exhibition.

The chapels – small structures scattered amongst the farms and residential houses of the municipality of Bertrix – blend into the local landscape, thanks in part to the composition of their forms, the roofing materials and the use of local stone for the façade cladding.

The furnishings for the four chapels were created by renowned Belgian artists and one French artist. More precisely, a Pole who had been living in France for many years and was already regarded there as one of the most outstanding reformers of sacred art. Jan (Jean) Lambert Rucki (1888–1967) already had to his credit numerous works, some of them on a grand scale, in French churches. It was he who, in 1949, created the entire sculptural decoration of the Notre-Dame-de-la-Foi chapel.

The shimmering slate, which dominates the overall appearance, lends the building the character of an archaic sanctuary, an effect further emphasised by the raw concrete of the roof. Rucki’s modest body of sculptural work fits perfectly into this atmosphere of an indefinable antiquity. In the altar niche stands a bronze crucifix. It originally hung on the wall, but has now been taken down and leaned against it. On the front wall are terracotta figures of angels and Mary (depicting the Annunciation), whilst on the other side of the chapel, hidden in a niche, is a group depicting the Lamentation at the Cross.

Both the chapel and its furnishings, as well as its surroundings, were placed under the protection of the French Community of Belgium in 2017.

Jan Lambert Rucki – a brief biography

He was born in Kraków, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Józef Mehoffer’s studio. In 1911, he moved to Paris and continued his studies within the international Montparnasse circle, including at the private Colarossi Academy. Among his closest friends were artists from the so-called École de Paris, who had come from Poland, Hungary and Italy.

Rucki enlisted in the Foreign Legion, with which he reached as far as Greece during the First World War. After the war ended, he returned to Montparnasse in 1919 and developed his work as a painter. Over time, however, he became increasingly interested in sculpture. He also designed mosaics and jewellery. From his post-Cubist explorations, he moved towards the Art Deco style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.

In the 1930s, the artist began to turn towards religious art. His major commissions in churches in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, and in Blois attracted such attention that Rucki quickly rose to the rank of a leading decorator of churches throughout France, particularly modernist ones. He collaborated with eminent architects involved in the renewal of church architecture, such as Georges-Henri Pinguisson (1894‒1978) and Henri Vidal (1895‒1955). In doing so, he became involved in the work of an initiative known as the Chantier du Cardinal, an association founded in 1931 at the instigation of the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean Verdier. This was a movement dedicated primarily to the construction of new churches in the Paris region. It also led to the creation of modern forms of interplay between architectural elements, stained-glass windows, mosaics, polychromy, bas-reliefs and sculptures.

Colourful, concrete Stations of the Cross thus became Rucki’s speciality, as did iron or wooden crucifixes and stylised Madonnas. However, he also created relief decorations for the façades of many French churches. The artist’s masterpiece appears to be his ‘total work’ – the Notre-Dame-de-Consolation chapel in Costebelle, which towers above the town of Hyères in Provence. There, he executed a comprehensive programme on the façade and interior, comprising sculptures, bas-reliefs, sgraffito (scraped-out patterns) and mosaics.

Jan Lambert Rucki in Belgium

Outside France, Lambert Rucki produced several works for Canada. In Belgium, on several occasions – apart from Bertrix – he collaborated with the architectural duo Roger Bastin and Jacques Dupuis, including on the chapels in Namur. His works in that country, however, remain almost completely forgotten.

The works from the chapel in Bertrix are typical examples of Lambert Rucki’s neo-medieval style. They draw on motifs from Romanesque and early Gothic sculpture—motifs which he simplifies whilst retaining, however, the decorative quality of the forms. At the same time, he always makes excellent use of the architectural context, the background of the wall and the contrast of materials. An extensive collection of Lambert Rucki’s works, including his religious pieces, can be viewed in the collections of the Villa La Fleur museum in Konstancin, near Warsaw.

The Notre-Dame-de la Foi Chapel – today

Although the entire complex of chapels in Bertrix was entered in the Belgian register of historic monuments in 2017, the chapel remains in a state of serious neglect. The magnificent vegetation growing all around it seems to be more valuable to the locals than the place of worship itself. Although all the elements, including the beautiful wrought-iron grille, have been preserved, rust covers the metal parts, whilst dust, cobwebs and bird droppings settle on the ceramic and stone components of this exceptionally delicate structure. The terracotta sculptures have already cracked in several places…